I wouldn't be surprised if this predictability is only because it is a small area, in terms of number of tiles. A reasonable possibility is that the parameters to generate the map are the overall shape, which tile is the entrance, which tile is the exit, and the minimum and maximum path length from entrance to exit.
For this small area, and for a small range of path lengths (likely a single value for this area), it ends up make certain tiles candidates only for path, only for event, or a candidate for both. As an area gets larger, the path length may vary more, it will be a lot less likely that any tiles are event-only.
Also, uber-efficient farming may not have anything to do with events... I never paid enough attention to really know, but I suspect champion packs can spawn on path tiles as well as non-path. If random champ packs are the primary farming target, predicting path vs. empty/event tile might not have any effect on real farming efficiency (which I think is a good thing).
The only problem I see with this is that in the beginning all wizards will be using the melee weapons over the wands, because progression in diablo starts out slowly. So we could be talking perhaps the entirety of act 1 and part of act 2 before you get a wand that has such attributes. If D3 has only 4 acts like D2 then that's about 1/4th of the game.
It's not that I'm claiming this is game breaking, but to me it ruins the chances that I will use it as an alt.
for a first character, meh... i doubt it. depends on luck of course, but making the general itemization work so this is unlikely is the kind of think blizzard delays games for.
for an alt? no way. if you haven't tossed a half decent wand and orb in your stash, you can pop some out at the smith that will beat most physical weapons you will find. that is what the smith is -- a slightly different take on gambling. say you get 20 weapon drops, all different types, all random stats. if none float your boat, you can turn those into maybe 5 or 8 wands with random stats. chances are one of those wands will be better than one of the axes in the original 20.
Sword shield holy archetype is what I just so truly miss from this game and it seems like a few niche are missing, including use for shields. Frankly, I don't see any of the current class to feel right with a shield. They seem to all have better alternatives that also fits them better.
A paladin would also fit perfectly of course for defensive and offensive oriented shield skills.
So, a holy, melee, healing, aura, shield archetype is needed to complement the holy, melee, healing, aura, not-shield archetype?
Paladin is just what you know, maybe not so much what Blizzard can make you happy with. If everything but the shield is what really made you love the paladin, I would bet (or at least hope) you will enjoy the monk. If the shield was what really made the paladin tick for you, I think Blizzard can do a lot better than adding something so similar to the monk.
I don't disagree that there is room for a shield-based class, but if they fill that niche in an expansion, I think it the right way to do it to make something a lot more distinct from the monk than "we brought back the diablo pally." That role is kinda filled.
The cool kids these days like to pretend that Blizzard doesn't make absolutely amazing games, and that everyone who can register a forum account can make better games, but I guess I'm just not cool. If they expand with a shield-based class, I expect them to bring something a little more unique, and would be shocked if it is anything short of awesome. If they can't come up with something distinct from the monk and barbarian (just including cause shield-based tends towards melee), something awesome, I expect they wont make a shield class. That would make me a bit sad, but not as sad as if they gave us something mediocre.
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For this small area, and for a small range of path lengths (likely a single value for this area), it ends up make certain tiles candidates only for path, only for event, or a candidate for both. As an area gets larger, the path length may vary more, it will be a lot less likely that any tiles are event-only.
Also, uber-efficient farming may not have anything to do with events... I never paid enough attention to really know, but I suspect champion packs can spawn on path tiles as well as non-path. If random champ packs are the primary farming target, predicting path vs. empty/event tile might not have any effect on real farming efficiency (which I think is a good thing).
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sorry to those who didnt
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for a first character, meh... i doubt it. depends on luck of course, but making the general itemization work so this is unlikely is the kind of think blizzard delays games for.
for an alt? no way. if you haven't tossed a half decent wand and orb in your stash, you can pop some out at the smith that will beat most physical weapons you will find. that is what the smith is -- a slightly different take on gambling. say you get 20 weapon drops, all different types, all random stats. if none float your boat, you can turn those into maybe 5 or 8 wands with random stats. chances are one of those wands will be better than one of the axes in the original 20.
1
So, a holy, melee, healing, aura, shield archetype is needed to complement the holy, melee, healing, aura, not-shield archetype?
Paladin is just what you know, maybe not so much what Blizzard can make you happy with. If everything but the shield is what really made you love the paladin, I would bet (or at least hope) you will enjoy the monk. If the shield was what really made the paladin tick for you, I think Blizzard can do a lot better than adding something so similar to the monk.
I don't disagree that there is room for a shield-based class, but if they fill that niche in an expansion, I think it the right way to do it to make something a lot more distinct from the monk than "we brought back the diablo pally." That role is kinda filled.
The cool kids these days like to pretend that Blizzard doesn't make absolutely amazing games, and that everyone who can register a forum account can make better games, but I guess I'm just not cool. If they expand with a shield-based class, I expect them to bring something a little more unique, and would be shocked if it is anything short of awesome. If they can't come up with something distinct from the monk and barbarian (just including cause shield-based tends towards melee), something awesome, I expect they wont make a shield class. That would make me a bit sad, but not as sad as if they gave us something mediocre.