6161

I wouldn’t mind grinding Hell to go to Inferno (I assumed this would be the case) if I could actually find gear upgrades that would get me into a proper set up for Inferno… but that’s just not how the game rolls. From their very mouths, Blizzard expects you to use the AH to gear up, so I guess that’s what I have to do. That is, until the RMT AH comes out, I’m not touching that thing with a ten-foot pole.

6162

You’re just being a prick then, I take it? I said, explicitly, I’m fine with the game dropping shit that I can’t use if it’d be a nice potential upgrade for some other build/class at the appropriate level. My complaint is that generally shit drops that’s just twink gear, from every boss and every drop. Somewhere in one of these recent threads I talked about my experience as a WD leveling up, and how I finally gave up on using the class appropriate stuff (stone knife series/mojos) and found that my DPS went up by 50% when I equipped some random blue bow. At some point a random champion/elite dropped a decent rare 1H sword so I could at least equip an offhand viper toward the end of Act IV. In Nightmare 1, of course, I once again end up with a bow because the mob HP has far outstripped the DPS I brought out of Act IV and that’s the single most important characteristic of my ranged character (I die if I don’t kill stuff while it’s at range and all), so back to bows.

I’m glad that you’ve had excellent luck with drops, or are playing a build that doesn’t need to have maximal DPS, or are just that much more awesome than I am. However, to me it’s very fucking annoying that I no longer can look forward to seeing an upgrade from all the bosses in an act taken as an aggregate in general, because they seem to drop shit that’s far enough back in level that a simple blue drop of an appropriate level off of a random zombie is better than a rare drop of the previous level tier regardless of the number of stats on that yellow. It’s also annoying in that it means I’m not running with fuck all in the way of some of the more useful and/or fun ancillary stats.

I fully realize that the game may be different at high Hell/Inferno. It’s completely unimportant to me if that’s the case if I don’t get there because the game no longer feels like it’s rewarding me for me simply playing it. (No matter how much gold I earn, going to the AH and methodically trying to maximize the use of my gold for an upgrade will always feel like work, rather than reward. That’s pretty damning for that method of powering up in my viewpoint. I realize that other folks just love to play the AH like its own game.)

6163

The AH would be more fun to play if it worked more like WoW’s AH. As it stands, the D3 AH seems like it was put together as an afterthought. It’s a step backwards, not forwards.

Based on Blue posts, they are not happy with the AH either, confirming that it was either rushed out or just not important enough to get right on release.

Updates are coming for the AH such as a “buy out” filter as well as being able to sell damaged items (which will be automatically repaired for the buyer). Other enhancements are being looked into like seeing sold item stats, detailed buy/sell info, and more filter options.

6164

I wish the AH interface was done better since it’s such a large part of the end game. Even games in beta have much better UI for their AH system than Diablo 3 and I’m thinking about my experience with the Guild Wars 2 AH during the beta weekend.

6165

Which is pretty bizarre since that’s how they want to continue making money on the game post-release.

6166

I suspect they’ve limited search options so that you’re forced to invest a lot of time/effort to get optimal items. This means you’ll be using the AH a lot more.

If the AH was about being user friendly - the least they could do would be to include a search filter for every possible property of the weapon. It’s just stupid that you have to look through page after page to find ideal stats.

Just searching for upgrades can be a major pain as it is now.

6167

Once again I feel the need to point out that bartering, trading and buying and selling items has ALWAYS been a big part of Diablo. The AH isn’t ruining anything, it’s just a continuation of the progression mentality that has always been a core part of the game.

I remember the week the original Diablo was released 15 or 16 years ago. When I logged into battle.net the first time in my life, the first thing I saw was people advertising armor and weapons for sale in general chat. This is back when the concept of adventuring through a dungeon with other people in a vivid graphical, real-time environment was a totally novel concept.

6168

Solo? If so, would you mind sharing your build?

I recently reached inferno with my barb after soloing normal/nightmare/hell and have been getting my arse absolutely handed to me. Yellow and blue mobs are insta-death while normal mobs give me a heck of a run for my money.

I think my armor is somewhere around 4200 and my damage is somewhere around 5800 with ~30k hp

6169

I don’t have a barbarian, but that damage looks quite low for inferno. What DPS weapon do you have and what are your resists? Resist All gear is extremely important.

6170

D: I have 5400 damage on my Barb and I am level 52 in Act 1 of hell.

You needs moar damage. Also weapons/armor/amulets with life on hit / or life on kill.

I think its time for you to visit the auction house!

6171

My barb is having a lot of trouble with inferno too, just got there. I’m at about 6k dps, 7k armor and high 200’s/low 300’s resists with warcry on and 32k health. My int is much higher than my str and slightly lower than my vit. My weapon is like 437dps (1h with shield) which I know needs to be replaced and I’m trying to find one.

6172

Try to add at least 1k to your armor, but you should be able to get by with 30k hp and 5800 unbuffed dps to start out. Your problem might be your resists, which should around 200 unbuffed. Also, as you might know, most Inferno builds for barbarians include Warcry for the armor and resist buffs, defensive passives, and Revenge. A lot of people also like to include Wrath of the Berserker and/or Earthquake for when you run into the tough champs and elites.

6173

People seem to constantly mention this as if it’s some universal truth. I played Diablo 2 from release till 2007, on and off. I’ve trade a handful of times in all that time. I don’t like getting things from other people. I’d rather find them myself. Even when I’m twinking another character, there’s still that “oooh, my [insert class here] will like this!” factor. It’s still me finding that loot.

I remember ignoring them.

6174

Right, just like you are now. All things remain the same. Yet you’re crying about the AH ruining Diablo. Go figure.

6175

All things are not the same. The loot drops have been changed from D2->D3 with the assumption that everyone will be using the convenience of the AH.

6176

Sure. And, for a change, I killed him on the first try, without dying. I died a bunch of times on the champion packs leading to him though (I even had to park one pack which was simply going to cost me way too much gold on repairs from too many deaths).

Part of what enabled me to finally progress to him was finding a 673 DPS two-hander (my best previously was 480), bringing my DPS to 5780 and 7630 with Battle Rage, which I always have on, so really the latter is the true DPS.

I also have a TON of +resist all gear stacked, so that my resists, with the shout buff, are all at 49% and physical is at 54%. Armor is at 61%. This means I could take hits from the Skeleton King relatively well. Only 35000 life, however. And a whopping 6% Dodge!

Build:
Ignore Pain / 7 seconds
Wrath of the Berzerker / +100% damage
Revenge / 30% chance
War Cry / 50% additional resistance
Frenzy / damage buff
Battle Rage / +30% damage

Nerves of Steel
Tough as Nails
Inspiring Presence

The stacking of Frenzy, Battle Rage and Berzerker leads to massive damage. Together with procs from Revenge (I’ve had it crit for 50k damage), makes it possible to get through the champion packs, and it certainly make the Skeleton King fight much easier - it took so long I was able to use Berzerker twice.
Without Revenge though the champion packs are impossible for me.

6177

So what’s the logic at work here? If good drops are more common Blizzard would make less money from RMT? Is that the reasoning behind the change?

6178

I’m doing what now?

I’m “crying” too? shakes head oh internet, the more things change …

I keep pointing out that one doesn’t need the AH. Despite the proclamations of people in this thread. [I]

To me[/I], using the AH would ruin half the reason to play the game - hence why I don’t use it. Perhaps you can appreciate the nuanced difference between this and what you attribute to me saying. In case you don’t, let me make it crystal clear: I don’t care if others use the AH. Their game can be played however they like. I object to the claim that one needs it.

6179

So, I now have a Monk and a Wizard both in inferno. my Wizard has about 25K DPS and 40K HPS. The Monk does about 8kDPS and 42K hps… Yet, my monk is 100% easier to get through Act I than the wizard is. I was able to solo the butcher with the monk, but can’t get there with my wizard.

My real worry is Act II. After walking through the front door and basically getting my arse handed to me by bug spitting mosquitoes, I have to ask: Is the Monk going to wash out in Act II?

Maybe I’m just doing Wizard wrong it just seems like even with Force Armor, Teleport(wh) and diamond skin, I am having a real hard time staying alive at all.

EDIT: (In hindsite I should include that I got a lucky drop on one of those string of ears belt with 20% melee reduction on the monk… That might be key.)

6180

But by “everyone” you actually mean the people who want to play Inferno past Act 1. That’s far, far from everyone who will be playing the game. That’s the hardcore of the hardcore.