Seriously Skoll? Someone beat Skyrim in ~3-4 hours. Boy that was a waste of money. Oh, and almost every single console game is around the 6-8 hour mark for the main story too, and that's not even people rushing through it. They charge $60 for those as well. People do speed runs in games all the time, it in no way is indicative of the amount of time the average person spends with it. I figure you would have known that though. Anyway. I played all the classes for a bit (except Witch Doctor who doesn't really interest me that much). I like things about all of them, but I think Barbarian and Wizard are my favorites for their entire combo package of abilities. The Monk and Witch Hunter were a blast, but their abilities outside of the right/left clicky aren't really very good, for me. The Witch Hunter feels like cheating with that enemy-seeking arrow and Rapid-Fire. The Barbarian I was quite pleased with, at least as far as abilities go. I practically stun-locked the Skeleton King using Bash, it was hilarious. Leap is amazing. The thing I DIDN'T like was itemization. The best damaging weapons are fucking shivs, not swords or axes. There's major level gaps in gear upgrades as well, you end up sitting around for 3-4 levels without any improvement (at least for me) while waiting for something to drop, since there's nothing in the store and nothing craftable to beat what you're using. This was a problem across the board for all classes so far, early in Act 1. Don't know if that pattern will hold. The Wizard rocks too, I use the Shocky-shock whatever it's called spell and Ray of Frost. Couldn't stand Magic Missile. The "omfg I'm surrounded" Freeze ability is the shit too. Don't care for the Asian theme to the character though, tbh, and there's not as much fire as I'd like. The lightning stuff is pretty cool though, I guess that's a good second choice. Though ranged, it doesn't feel nearly as powerful as the WH did, though it seems to make up for it in useful secondary abilities. Aside from the item issues, I'm rather enjoying the game so far. I want more cutscenes like that opening cinematic, I'd pay to watch a Diablo 3 movie. Going back and running around Old Tristram and the haunts found in Diablo 1 was pretty damn cool. I kept looking for the river to see if I could find Wirt's Leg, but no luck there, it seems to have dried up (aside from being in an inaccessible area). The randomization of dungeons, as well as randomization of things in the "outside" to a certain extent, is pretty sweet. Definitely noticeable. Didn't try Hardcore, it looked like it was greyed out, do you have to beat the game on Normal first? Then again, I haven't died a single time either, but it is Normal so I wouldn't expect to. Not sure how multiplayer works, does it utilize your single player character or do you create separate ones like the olden days?
both coop and pvp multiplayer use your normal single player character. I was pretty underwhelmed with the wizards damage output. Then i noticed spelldamage is tied to your weapon damage now and equipped a 2 hand hammer (which i still think is stupid).
I had that same problem. I'm running with a crafted wand and a spellbook atm. I'd be better off with a higher dps weapon though, I believe, but I like actually using the intended weapons. Hm, since EVERYTHING is based on weapon damage, it seems like the best bet is to base your weapon choice depending on the type of abilities you use. If you're using your secondary attack (like the Barbarian's Hammer of the Gods) a lot, for instance, having a weapon with the highest damage possible (even if it isn't the best DPS) seems beneficial, as it is a very large multiplier and it's a single attack. You want to focus on spike damage potential, not consistent DPS that your primary attacks output? I still don't get why swords, axes, spears, and such seem to suck compared to daggers. Also, everyone using the exact same armor is really really weird. Further thoughts for my "review". There isn't a whole lot to do to customize your character. No points to spend on skills, no points to spend on attributes. ALL you have is your skill selection, and what rune you put on that skill. Since you don't unlock most of the runes for a very long time, that means there's almost nothing to customize but your equipment, in the end.
Skoll, I'd be willing to bet that they beat the "Normal" playthrough in a blindingly fast 6 hours. Don't forget that as in Diablo II they've got two, even more difficult runs to get through and endless quantities of loot to chase. If you get less than 30 hours out of this game I'd wager you're either a masochist, a demi-god, or not that into the whole Diablo "thing" in the first place. That's a good rundown on the classes, Dihm. I've been sticking to the Demon Hunter and really liking it. Damage seems a bit underwhelming, but the utility of snaring monsters and having two evasive options makes me happy. Was able to get a solid five hours of play in despite the server issues, so I feel very lucky given all the launch shenanigans. I saw Taake online and sent out lots of friend requests, hope to see more of you over the next few weeks!
Oh, and a heads up for people, you share your gold across all your characters, and whatever progress you put in to improving your blacksmith also carries over. You don't have to train them again for each character.
In regards to daggers you pretty much answered your own question there: Skill damage is based upon a weapons basedamage, not dps. Since almost all classes use a skill as their primary attack daggers would be useless if they didn't have atleast some decent dps. I agree with you on the armor, altough since there are 16 armor tiers i can understand why they did it. Regarding the costumization business i think there is more than enough room for individual expression of playstyle. Yes, in the beginning you are pretty much running the same setup as anyone else, but this has panned out pretty good by the time you hit 20. I actually enjoy not having to ponder endless hours over every single statpoint distribution and the easy with which you can now reroll your skillset.
I'm just biased is all, Dihm. I'm still not getting the game, even if they've brought the Frenzy Barb back. Maybe it'd be different if Blizzard weren't owned by Activision, didn't DRM the game to all hell, and the campaign was longer. Just my take on it anyway. If you guys enjoy it though, well, I'm glad that you do. I'll take my disillusionment and go sit in there here corner.
*Points to the corner* 20 minute time out. Nose must touch at all times or the timer starts over again.
Oh, so you were trolling. I tried using "Frenzy" on my Barbarian... I didn't care for it at all honestly. I thought I'd love it, but the Stun rune for Bash is just beastmode. I have no clue how it works with the story or level differences and all that shit, but I'll be playing my barbarian this evening if people wanna give it a shot.
Frenzy Barb was my main build. So much fun. Most people went with Whirlwind builds back in the day though because Frenzy took a degree of skill to control.
Just think Skoll, you could be a Frenzy Whirlwind Barb now. I think I like my debuffs and status effects too much, which is why I didn't care for Frenzy when I tried it.
I'd love a Frenzy/Zerker hybrid. That thing would be unstoppable. I never liked Whirlsuck because it's pretty much only useful on groups.
been playing a wizard and a monk, about 8 hours in and only just got into Act II, so I'm guessing the korean 6-hour group run was done without hitting any of the side-event stuff at all. Loving both classes, and running the game with friends makes it that much more fun for me. really enjoying the game so far, but then i'm pretty easy to please and avoid getting sucked into the "x is better than y" game debate things. if torchlight 2, or grim Dawn, or Path of Exile are also good, I'll probably get that game too. Also, the whole complaints about color palette struck me as forced, considering how cool I think the game looks overall, and definitely in keeping with the Diablo setting and themes, especially some of the later areas in Act I. again, my battletag is Majestyk12#1705 if anyone is interested in playing. EDIT: Also, the destructible terrain stuff is so freaking cool. Love running up and blowing apart pillars and walls and shit.
Recipe for the secret cow level: [video=youtube;Bu0GwZTXc7E]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu0GwZTXc7E[/video]
Well, played through the free trial with wizard, barb, and halfway with demon hunter. Wizard has by far the easiest time and does the most damage. Barb was fairly disappointing at the low levels, did damage but was left in the dust by some of the other classes. Maybe this gets better later. Demon Hunter was pretty good up to the point I played it, fast firing and seems to focus on slowing the enemy. So far liking the Wizard by far the best.
