Diablo III - New patch 2.1 Coming Aug 26

[photon]

I guess they expect us to kill stuff faster in order to survive?

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Wow! Looks like I'll get to go from using One with Everything, Seize the Initiative and Transcendence to trying... uh... hmm... ... ... b'oh.

[LChoy]

Patch 1.0.4 Preview: Demon Hunter
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/6986...nter-8_16_2012

• Buffs to the primary skills to compete with Hungering arrows
• "We're taking a look at Hatred Generators and Spenders, as well as some of the demon hunter's more iconic abilities like Rain of Vengeance and Sentry, and will be upping the damage on all of them."
• "Sentry is also a very distinctive spell that doesn't get used very often. It's interesting mechanically, and it has some nice potential for team play, so we'd like to make it more attractive. The solution was pretty simple for this one: we took its damage, and then we doubled it."

Patch 1.0.4 Preview: Witch Doctor
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/6923...ctor-8_16_2012

• Pet survivability - Yay!
• Vision Quest design flaws - Some people will be mad
• Splinters and Zombie Bears are way more appealing than most other skills - Buffs to a variety of skills

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Originally Posted by Lchoy

Patch 1.0.4 Preview: Demon Hunter
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/6986...nter-8_16_2012

• Buffs to the primary skills to compete with Hungering arrows
• "We're taking a look at Hatred Generators and Spenders, as well as some of the demon hunter's more iconic abilities like Rain of Vengeance and Sentry, and will be upping the damage on all of them."
• "Sentry is also a very distinctive spell that doesn't get used very often. It's interesting mechanically, and it has some nice potential for team play, so we'd like to make it more attractive. The solution was pretty simple for this one: we took its damage, and then we doubled it."

Patch 1.0.4 Preview: Witch Doctor
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/6923...ctor-8_16_2012

• Pet survivability - Yay!
• Vision Quest design flaws - Some people will be mad
• Splinters and Zombie Bears are way more appealing than most other skills - Buffs to a variety of skills

I saw these updates popping up quite quickly last night. Must mean they're launching the patch soon.

The buff to Rain of Vengeance seems significant for DH. 75% to 715%? That's nearly 10x the amount of damage!

Also, I never actually used Vision Quest, so the nerf doesn't even affect me. The over 100% regeneration rate most certainly will though! For me that just means more zombears!

Edit: As for Sentry, is doubling its damage going to make it any more viable? I just looked it up and it only currently does 20% weapon damage. Is 40% really that much more significant?

[Flame Of Liberty]

all I can say is lol @ sentry and rain of chopsticks

buffing sentry and hydra? really? who actually enjoys "drop and forget" skills?

blizzard nerfs the hell out of builds people are having fun with a forces crap "signature spells" down our throat. lame.

[SilverGS]

New Levelling system for level 60's

- Capping MF and GF at 300% before NV so max MF you can have with valor is 375%
- New Paragon MF/GF system.
- At 60 all your experience now goes to levelling Paragon. Each Paragon level gives you 3% MF and 3% GF
- Goes to 99 or 100. So at level 100 you need no MF/GF gear period and can focus only on Offensive and defensive stats

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/6968517

[photon]

That's a pretty interesting solution, I kind of like it, I've never really liked having a separate set of (usually very inferior) magic find gear or gold find gear.

If seven sided strike works out to be as powerful as the blog hints (they wouldn't even give the increase, they're keeping it secret for the patch notes), and between the other buffs and decrease in repair costs and the valour levels (so hopefully playing doesn't always mean a loss in gold) I may want to start playing my monk again.

[Rathji]

I like that solution.

[Ethaniel]

I agree this system may just bring me back. The one thing that always annoyed me about Diablo III was the fact that once you hit 60 the only way to improve your character was through gear. I never liked the level cap and I still don't, but I hope the Paragon system is designed like it is in D2 to get to 99. I hope that paragon 100 is almost impossible except for huge amounts of playtime.

Having a goal of Paragon 100 that could take 1 - 2 months to obtain would be great. I also think that when you die you should lose Paragon. Being lvl 100 and again having no fear, no worries is not good design.

[SilverGS]

Well they said it would take about the same amount of xp to get paragon lvl 1 as it did to go from 59-60 and then after that would go up from there. I would imagine it will be a long grind to get to Paragon 100.

MF gear still okay for now but overtime will diminish in value somewhat as people reach those higher levels of Paragon.

[Ethaniel]

Originally Posted by SilverGS

Well they said it would take about the same amount of xp to get paragon lvl 1 as it did to go from 59-60 and then after that would go up from there. I would imagine it will be a long grind to get to Paragon 100.

MF gear still okay for now but overtime will diminish in value somewhat as people reach those higher levels of Paragon.

Not to mention they are going to be removing MF gear. Personally this change may make or break this game.

[Kipperriffic]

Wow! I just read everything about the new Patch - the changes to classes, better items, "Paragon" levels

This is amazing stuff. Really great job by Blizzard. I just cant wait for it to be released! I've only got a few weeks left till Fall classes start and I enter Accounting Hell.

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Noooo they're giving me a reason to play Inferno now? Before I was actually quite happy just slowly levelling all the classes up and stopping at 60. But now with these Paragon levels...ugh...I'm just a sucker for leveling

[Aegypticus]

This could be my favourite change of all so far:

Stat increases which come from slotted gems will no longer be factored in when searching for equipment. Instead, your search criteria will only take into account the base stat values for an item.

Was probably the single most frustrating thing in the game for me to this point.

[photon]

So just in case the monk still sucks, what's a good suggestion for another class to play. Specifically I found the most frustrating was not being able to deal with elite groups that were deadly in close, so maybe a ranged character?

Do Demon Hunters really rely on traps? I like the idea of bows, but I usually hate playing a style with traps but don't want to gimp myself by ignoring a necessary aspect of a class.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by SilverGS

Well they said it would take about the same amount of xp to get paragon lvl 1 as it did to go from 59-60 and then after that would go up from there. I would imagine it will be a long grind to get to Paragon 100.

MF gear still okay for now but overtime will diminish in value somewhat as people reach those higher levels of Paragon.

Yeah, I sort of backed the wrong horse here. Bought MF gear that was good enough so I didn't have to swap as I anticipated they would remove swapping for this patch. I likely would have done it anyways and if I remove my Topaz from my helmet for a Ruby (assuming it works with paragon levels) I'll be under the cap for a bit but I'm going to have to start offloading some of my gear quickly

photon, I said it in one of my prior posts but I highly recommend whirlwind barb. It's cheap to get started, fun to play with, and extremely powerful when good. With that said I haven't played any class but barbarian.

Originally Posted by Aegypticus

Was probably the single most frustrating thing in the game for me to this point.

Great change but that was one of the ways I started getting gold at the start. Searched for a 20 mf helm with socket, scrolled and scrolled and scrolled some more for the first helmet that had an empty socket, bought it, put in a topaz and quickly resold for a (at the time and for me) huge profit. Wasn't the funnest way to make gold but occasionally worked out well enough.

[Flame Of Liberty]

Nice, like the paragon system, rewards for actually playing the game.

Still funny to read all the cry babies with mommy's credit cards over at battle net forum that their XY billion gear is now "worthless"

Meanwhile, my buddy and I rolled HC characters for a change, and for anyone who hasn't tried it - give it a go, totally new experience because now every fight matters (/captain obvious). Not to mention a sensible AH free of botters.

[Aegypticus]

Originally Posted by photon

So just in case the monk still sucks, what's a good suggestion for another class to play. Specifically I found the most frustrating was not being able to deal with elite groups that were deadly in close, so maybe a ranged character?

Do Demon Hunters really rely on traps? I like the idea of bows, but I usually hate playing a style with traps but don't want to gimp myself by ignoring a necessary aspect of a class.

Demon Hunters can easily get away without ever laying a trap.

[jammies]

Originally Posted by photon

So just in case the monk still sucks, what's a good suggestion for another class to play. Specifically I found the most frustrating was not being able to deal with elite groups that were deadly in close, so maybe a ranged character?

Monk... sucks? I have a wizard and a monk at 60, and the monk is definitely easier to play. Damage mitigation is far better, DPS is almost as good, and you are very maneuverable for when you need to create distance. There is no combo you can't beat with a monk as long as you are patient.

With a ranged character, you almost have to play mistake-free until you overgear the content, but with a melee character that extra 30% of damage mitigation, plus your far better armor/resist means you can make a couple mistakes and live even when you are overmatched. I also have a witch doctor at level 58, soon to be 60, and the monk was far easier than either ranged character to level, cheaper to equip, and much more survivable.

[Flame Of Liberty]

Apparently Tank DHs got nerfed to the ground as well, jagged spikes don't proc at all and gas grenades coefficient reduced from .5 to .165

Ouch!