we've been pushing for this internally for some time now and got the green light for the changes recently. We think these changes will improve the forums a lot and were very necessary for when Patch 2.1 comes. Hopefully you guys agree, and enjoy the changes.
Also, if you have any feedback on it or other changes to suggest, feel free to contact me or Bagstone even via PM.
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Notice: I will post my latest releases as replies into this thread as usual.
For those who don't know me, I am KageKaze. I create guides and tutorials on YouTube for several games and even have a newer "Diablo Digest" podcast for D3. I take a look at the current news for Diablo and try to break it down into into easily digestible bits and throw in my own thoughts about what current changes to the game mean for not only us, but for Diablo and Blizzard as well. Aside from that I do Analytical Playthroughs (okay so it's just a glorified Let's Play) on games and betas
Post Updated 8/17/14
So what did I miss? Well there were 2 Crusader updates and 1 Witch Doctor, all provided below for your perusal. I also provided a link to the Dance emote video I made just because it's silly and I used the old April Fools Deckard Cain Rap that not every modern Diablofan might have heard before. Lastly, while it might be late, I've finally finished my full Hellfire Ring/Amulet guide updated for 2.1.0. The previous version came out late as well, but it's still being referenced to this day (recently even seeing more traffic than usual) so I wanted to make sure I had a version that matched the new information. Feedback always welcome, otherwise please enjoy!
D3 Reaper of Souls: Keywardens, Infernal Machines, and Hellfire Armaments Complete Guide (2.1.0)
http://youtu.be/vidI_DwAq-M
This is my new guide for the updated Hellfire Ring and newly added (as of patch 2.1.0) Hellfire Amulet. This guide covers the items needed, the drop rates of those items, and where to find them, as well as strategies for all the monsters you'll need to fight.
Contents:
Diablo 3 Reaper of Souls: So you think you can dance, Nephalem? New Dances in Diablo 3!
http://youtu.be/0sqK7U-5PKE
Patch 2.1.0 is adding some new emotes to Diablo 3! Check out the new dances here!
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Seeing people that posted a link and nothing more always upset me, it just felt cheap. Not only that, but a good amount of my time here is usually while at work and I can't often watch a video. If a topic is given and I feel it's interesting I will tend to take the time to watch later to give the person the view as a form of respect as I know what it means as a content provider, but I'll often just ignore something that's just a big "click me" sign. That's my rant and reasoning for liking the change. Thumbs up.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZDQ4G8KuYs
For those that still don't care to click, the video shows the new Seasonal reward transmog set "Conqueror's Pauldrons" being used on a head piece instead of the shoulders. Hilarity ensues.
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With that said, I am saddened the items are being removed. I like that they had a little bit of lore and flavor to the game. I wish they'd come up with something to make it worth while. I have no idea what kind of system they could use in its place, but I'm hoping we'll see these items come back in some capacity, maybe we'll see it again in another xpac as I have a feeling they'll be more concerned with the Tiered Rift and Seasons systems to put it back in for this expansion.
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Also, legendary crafting materials are very specific to a location if you manage to find the pattern. There's a huge thread here that goes over their locations and how to farm them, so I think a middle ground has been added.
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I think you underestimate the power of the followers now. They've had some massive buffs. I personally like to play solo over group unless it's with friends and I've felt the exact same way as the OP. I even put out some rants on the subject as I felt I just couldn't help gear my follower unless they wore the same kind of gear I did. I had suggested that crafters had an option to change the primary stat focus on the UI. A simple option that would favor you or your follower, sadly, that option never got implemented.
I also miss the ability to find a really cool item for an alt. I still see some items for other classes drop from time to time, but it's not quite like finding that unique or set item that only really worked for a sorceress. I can live with it, but I still think it's a bit much sometimes.
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Okay.. I watched.. But I have to agree your posts seem to be about "blizzard needs to listen to me/thisguy" and "they're doing it wrong". Feedback is great, but once again you seem to miss the idea of offering critical feedback and suggestions. The video does offer some, however, so my thoughts:
Honestly one thing that strikes me is that he's a bit confused about the intent of the monk changes regarding "speed" and the changes to dashing strike. It's not about movement speed, it's about getting to monsters. Fists of Thunder was made to teleport you on all runes. Dashing Strike now goes full distance without a target. I do agree, however, that monks really could use more attack speed in general especially when it comes to 2H weapons.
What I find odd about his complaints aboutitemizationis he says Reaper stats are boring, but his old items look the same to me. It's just a bunch of the Tri orQuad fecta stuff that boosts your damage like crazy. That's being replaced with items that are supposed to offer some kind of bonus without the need for such specific gear, I'm not sure how that's considered boring. He is right about old items being really good if you have them already. I'm thinking that enchanting shouldn't work on legacy items to prevent such an issue.
He has an interesting idea that good legendaries should be a Torment difficulty bonus and I don't quite disagree but I do disagree that some legandary items should be only on the highest difficulty. There should be rewards, better chances, but items shouldn't be locked for players that don't have the time to reach that level of gear.
Overall there was some good details even if I don't agree with all of it.
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I know I already put this in the advertising thread, but I've already got a lot of discussion so I wanted to put this in its own thread to keep things from getting cluttered in that one. Here's my post from the official forums for people can see what is discussed if they cannot or do not want to watch.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is that time again and a new Diablo Digest has been spawned. For those not familiar with it, the Diablo Digest series I created is something of a news summary and personal opinion video podcast. The reason I'm posting it here today and in the feedback forum is because it concerns my thoughts and impressions of the current 2.0.1 PTR and things I'm concerned about. My hope is, of course, to also make sure that it is viewed by Diablo devs so the opinions inside could be taken into consideration.
To keep lines of discussion open, I'll summarize for those that can't or don't wish to watch.
I like many of the changes happening in Reaper of Souls and a lot of the changes are available to test on the PTR. While things are looking up, there are still issues I would see addressed and hope they can be fixed or modified for the future.
Death and No-Taxes:
Death is but a stumbling block. Reviving at Corpse is not a feature I enjoy. I know many people are concerned about efficiency and would rather not lose those valuable seconds, but I want death to be something that is undesirable and to be avoided at all costs. Part of the fun in a game comes from overcoming challenges and having a risk to reward. I'm not talking about having to punish players for it, just a setback that says "hey I shouldn't do that again". Maybe a bonus for living some kind of benefit like Nephalem Valor was that you could lose if you died.
Difficulty should not be restricted to expansion purchase:
Currently I'm in agreement with many people that Master difficulty mode is abit too easy. I'm not very geared and I can run Master mode without too much issue and I'm nowhere near geared for MP10 like others are. Either there needs to be change to how tough Master really is or Torment should be available to all players. I honestly don't see why the difficulty should be an unlockable feature at this point either. The previous unlockable difficulties were due to monster levels being tied directly into the 'beat the game multiple times' progression. Now that level progression is removed from the difficulties they should just be playable from the start, allowing players to choose what level of challenge they desire. For those concerned about giving non RoS purchasers any RoS benefits, those can all be tied to the expansion and turned off for basic players, but I really think there should be some kind of increased reward for base game players that makes it all worth while.
The Templar healing is a bit too strong:
While leveling up and after getting the Templar, I found that the game suddenly lost its challenge. I took on Leoric the Skeleton King at around level 20 when the Templar got all his healing abilities. Leoric couldn't hurt me. At all. I think the Templar's healing needs to be reduced while leveling (maybe even at 60/70, not 100% on those) because it pretty much negates all damage you take. I intentionally run with only one of the spells because it feels more balanced that way.
Loot 2.0 is Too Smart:
I like that smart loot drops, I like that finding upgrades is so much easier now and I don't have to get shut down by nasty RNG. However, I feel like smart drops are all I find. I get constant items with my stats, on occasion something neutral, but I have yet (not exaggerating here) to find loot with stats for another class (DEX, INT) outside of a class specific drop (Flail, Mighty Weapon). I've been unable to gear my Templar follower because I can't find STR gear for him on my Wizard. I had heard that Smart Drops would consider who your follower is when dropping items, I have yet to see that happen. Loot for other classes is so rare that I never find a piece that says to me "hey trying class X would be cool now that I found this neat item". I like loot 2.0 and smart drops, but I think it needs to be reigned in a little so that a little bit of randomness can return.
Arts and Crafts:
Adding to the Loot 2.0 problem, I have an issue with crafting. I know that drops are being constantly evaluated, so I won't go into that too much, but know that I think Common Debris might need to be reevaluated. With Loot 2.0 the idea of making whites special might not be needed anymore.
My main issue with crafting currently is becuase crafting is 100% smart, I can't even craft for my follower now. Nothing will roll STR unless it's class specific. If I want to make something for my Templar, I have to roll up a Barbarian to craft for him. My suggesting is to add some kind of switch or toggle on the UI that lets me choose between myself or my follower. Heck, let's take that a step further and add some kind of switch for being able to craft for any class. If I'm running in a party of friends and I want to craft a new weapon for a friend, I don't want it to have INT on it when he's a Demon Hunter. Maybe a radio button at the top to pick a class to craft for would be enough.
Okay that's the major topics, please enjoy the video (if you still decide to watch). I'm hopeful this will be considered in development.
Diablo Digest: Vanilla Difficulty, Changes to Vendor Salvage, Loot 2.0 Concerns
http://youtu.be/A5lMioIxtuw
Audio and video recorded Jan 11 2014
Topics that are included in this broadcast:
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Notice: I will post my latest releases as replies into this thread as usual.
Post Updated 12/15/13
For those who don't know me, I am KageKaze. I create guides and tutorials on YouTube for several games and even have a newer "Diablo Digest" podcast for D3. I take a look at the current news for Diablo and try to break it down into into easily digestible bits and throw in my own thoughts about what current changes to the game mean for not only us, but for Diablo and Blizzard as well. Aside from that I do Analytical Playthroughs (okay so it's just a glorified Let's Play) on games and betas
UPDATE: I would like to say while I love Diablofans, this new forum editor is really weird and it took me a lot of time to get this to look nice
It's official, I hate the new post editor.. please see the latest reply to the thread for the latest videos for Diablo 3's PTR.