Update - Added some more information on the Nephalem Valor Buff
A Few Questions Answered
Bashiok took the time to answer a few questions, however please keep in mind This system is a work in progress, this information can easily change while the system is being worked on!
When you say extra loot, do you mean, extra loot. Or do you mean extra loot that is on par with what elite/champs drop. I remember from the article before, bosses do not drop gear that is as good as champs/elites.
They will drop gear as good as champions and elites with this buff (because you have to kill champions and elites to get it, which was the point). With the buff active you’re guaranteed one extra item drop from the boss, and it’s likely that it’ll be 1 item per stack of the buff. Up to X stacks. We don’t know how many it’ll be, probably a handful.
How many stacks will there be if any? We're not totally sure but probably a number you can count on one hand.
Do you lose the buff when you die? It lasts through death currently, and we like it. I know some people will also want it to be a punishment for death, but repair costs are already extremely impactful.
Does the buff split between players? Like someone joins after you've been killing and they have less stacks? It's a direct increase to your MF/GF, so it uses the same mechanics.
Do you lose it on disconnect? There's a small grace period, similar to WoW where you can get back into the game before your character is actually logged out (ie a timeout), but yes if your character times out you would lose the buff.
What is the Time limit on the stack, if any? We're messing with times from about 15 minutes to an hour. We don't know yet.
Do Stacks get removed after a boss? We don't really think it needs to. Your focus is still going to be seeking out champions and rares. If you want to get full stacks, kill a boss, and then try to rush to kill another boss before the buff falls off... have fun? It's not going to be the most lucrative way to play, so it's likely a non-issue hypothetical.
Nephalem Valor Buff
Blizzard just posted an article describing the mechanics and the goal of the new Nephalem Valor buff!
We’re working hard on balancing and testing Diablo III, and one of the major components is making sure that the end game experience is fun and exciting. We’d like to share a few of our goals for end game:
We have an enormous number of skill build combinations, and we want a lot of those skill builds to be viable and interesting
While there are millions of skill builds available to players, we don’t want players swapping skills regularly to beat specific encounters as they come up
We don’t want repeatedly running specific three-minute chunks of the game to be the most efficient way to acquire gear for your character
While a three-minute run shouldn’t be the most efficient, we also don’t want you to feel like it’s a two-hour commitment every time you sit down to play
Bosses should still feel worth killing
Nephalem Valor is one of the major new systems in Diablo III and it kicks in at level 60. Keep in mind that this is still in testing and we’re still working out the details. Here’s how it currently works internally: Rare and Champion packs already have great loot on them. By killing a Rare or Champion pack, not only do you get their loot, but you’ll also receive a buff granting you increased magic find and gold find. However, if you change a skill, skill rune, passive, or leave the game, the buff disappears. As an extra reward, if you kill a boss while this buff is active, you’ll receive extra loot drops from that boss.
The exact amount of magic find and gold find provided by the buff is still being reviewed, as is the amount of extra loot you get from a boss while the buff is active. We’re also playing around with whether or not the buff stacks, what the duration should be, and whether or not it should persist through death. We want to make sure the buff is strong enough to make staying in your current game more rewarding than creating a new game. At the same time, if the buff is too strong, it risks making shorter play sessions feel not worthwhile.
We expect this system will encourage players to stick with a skill build of their choice, select an area of the game they enjoy, and sweep it for rare and champion packs on their way to a boss, finishing off a run with a boss that’ll be worth killing. If you wanted a shorter play session you could be done at that point, but if you have more time, the path of least resistance would ideally be to stay in the same game and make your way towards the next boss.
No, it kicks in at 60. Once you hit 60 you have access to this buff regardless of difficulty. You can use it and go back to Hell to help you gear up for Inferno, absolutely.
Diablo 3 Beta Screenshots
Today we have some 4 player screenshots with a lot of action! Enjoy
I think this is a great idea. I'm actually completely surprised they went this route. I honestly never expected anything but an half-assed solution that would make me run the same exact spot over and over.
As far as I'm concerned, this looks satisfying. A few things, however:
-I don't think a time limit should be given with this. There are MANY things that can remove the buff. A time limit just feels completely ridiculous.
-Of course, losing it on death is more-or-less necessary without a time limit.
-I think if it doesn't stack, it kills 90% of the purpose of this buff. It should have you killing as much as possible up to a limit, where you kill a boss and get good chances for good loot. Thats how it sounds fun to me.
I like the second effect, the fact bosses will drop more ( and hopefully) better loot that matches the elite mob loot, in addition to the magic find, that's what I was hopping for
..We’re also playing around with whether or not the buff stacks..
If it didn't stack then that means killing one pack of champions would be all you would have to do to increase your MF is very quickly (teleport, run though whatever) finding 1 champion, killing it then on to the boss making it still be a very short run defeating the purpose quoted here.
While a three-minute run shouldn’t be the most efficient, we also don’t want you to feel like it’s a two-hour commitment every time you sit down to play
So by what the article says it almost would have to stack to make it worth it but if it stacks my idea would be it would have to reset if you go to town or change acts? If not you could go kill every champion between all acts, have it stacked to like 50 and go kill a boss getting some ridiculous drops.
And for group gameplay, would this buff average out like MF does? Or would it only affect your drops?
If it didn't stack then that means killing one pack of champions would be all you would have to do to increase your MF is very quickly (teleport, run though whatever) finding 1 champion, killing it then on to the boss making it still be a very short run defeating the purpose quoted here.
And since they is always 1 champion mob somewhere on a level near the boss, you'd just back up 1 waypoint. It'd almost have to stack.
I agree with Jake, a couple of stacks would be nice. Otherwise you'd get the buff automatically when doing normal boss runs anyways (you always run across champion pack or two).
My favorite solution would be to have like 15 stacks, each granting a minor % of extra MF. Killing one boss pack on your way by accident shouldn't give you any advantage, but getting all 15 should net you a considerable bonus. Like that you'd also stay in the game and run other bosses.
I think this is a great idea and it really covers off everyones objectives. We are killing more which expands the end game content, more loot drops for us which everyone wants. A nice little addition ofr both of us is well is the implications for the RMAH. More good loot drops = more items for sale of high quality on the RMAH = Lower prices because there is more supply on the market. This also makes Blizzard happy because it can potentially mean more trades on the RMAH
If it didn't stack then that means killing one pack of champions would be all you would have to do to increase your MF is very quickly (teleport, run though whatever) finding 1 champion, killing it then on to the boss making it still be a very short run defeating the purpose quoted here.
And since they is always 1 champion mob somewhere on a level near the boss, you'd just back up 1 waypoint. It'd almost have to stack.
My point exactly. Either there'd have to be a cap or it would have to reset using waypoints or traveling to the next act.
However, some of their indecision is very worrying. I can see a few things that could really mess it up if they decide to go in that direction.
* As other people have said, if it doesn't stack it's going to turn into boss farming again. If you only need to kill 1 champion pack you'll just go straight for the boss and kill a pack on the way.
* I really think it needs to reset when you kill a boss (or change acts). Otherwise you'll hit the cap and then kill all the bosses in the game for awesome loot.
I'm excited but at the same time a bit letdown with the announcement. They didn't really tell us much to know if it'll be a good change or not.
However, some of their indecision is very worrying. I can see a few things that could really mess it up if they decide to go in that direction.
* As other people have said, if it doesn't stack it's going to turn into boss farming again. If you only need to kill 1 champion pack you'll just go straight for the boss and kill a pack on the way.
* I really think it needs to reset when you kill a boss (or change acts). Otherwise you'll hit the cap and then kill all the bosses in the game for awesome loot.
I'm excited but at the same time a bit letdown with the announcement. They didn't really tell us much to know if it'll be a good change or not.
yeah, this is what I'm saying up there ^^^^ a ways.
I love that it resets if you change your skills though. That will make a very interesting impact on builds because now your uber AoE build might finally pay a price for not having a single target skill when you hit up the boss
Stackable for at least a modest amount. I'll guess 10 stacks as a good round number.
Removed when you die or kill a boss.
I feel this would be the best implementation. A time limit on a buff that is supposed to encourage you to take your time just seems counter productive.
The buff needs to have stacks to be enough of a dissuading effect against fast boss killing by just sniping the closest champion.
It should be removed on death because the penalty for death in non hardcore is already fairly light. Not removing the buff upon a boss kill would just lead to building up your buff and then farming bosses afterward. I prefer the feel of playing a good portion of every act.
Stackable for at least a modest amount. I'll guess 10 stacks as a good round number.
Removed when you die or kill a boss.
I feel this would be the best implementation. A time limit on a buff that is supposed to encourage you to take your time just seems counter productive.
The buff needs to have stacks to be enough of a dissuading effect against fast boss killing by just sniping the closest champion.
It should be removed on death because the penalty for death in non hardcore is already fairly light. Not removing the buff upon a boss kill would just lead to building up your buff and then farming bosses afterward. I prefer the feel of playing a good portion of every act.
Pretty much exactly my thoughts. Except, that I think the stacks should be halved after killing a boss instead of reset. This gives incentive to staying in that game and killing the other packs/bosses instead of leaving and starting a new game to kill that same boss.
Also, 10 stacks seems a bit too excessive. I was thinking something like 5 stacks, with 6 being more likely since it can still be a whole number when halved.
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A Few Questions Answered
Bashiok took the time to answer a few questions, however please keep in mind This system is a work in progress, this information can easily change while the system is being worked on!
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
They will drop gear as good as champions and elites with this buff (because you have to kill champions and elites to get it, which was the point). With the buff active you’re guaranteed one extra item drop from the boss, and it’s likely that it’ll be 1 item per stack of the buff. Up to X stacks. We don’t know how many it’ll be, probably a handful.
How many stacks will there be if any?
We're not totally sure but probably a number you can count on one hand.
Do you lose the buff when you die?
It lasts through death currently, and we like it. I know some people will also want it to be a punishment for death, but repair costs are already extremely impactful.
Does the buff split between players?
Like someone joins after you've been killing and they have less stacks? It's a direct increase to your MF/GF, so it uses the same mechanics.
Do you lose it on disconnect?
There's a small grace period, similar to WoW where you can get back into the game before your character is actually logged out (ie a timeout), but yes if your character times out you would lose the buff.
What is the Time limit on the stack, if any?
We're messing with times from about 15 minutes to an hour. We don't know yet.
Do Stacks get removed after a boss?
We don't really think it needs to. Your focus is still going to be seeking out champions and rares. If you want to get full stacks, kill a boss, and then try to rush to kill another boss before the buff falls off... have fun? It's not going to be the most lucrative way to play, so it's likely a non-issue hypothetical.
Nephalem Valor Buff
Blizzard just posted an article describing the mechanics and the goal of the new Nephalem Valor buff!
Originally Posted by (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
The exact amount of magic find and gold find provided by the buff is still being reviewed, as is the amount of extra loot you get from a boss while the buff is active. We’re also playing around with whether or not the buff stacks, what the duration should be, and whether or not it should persist through death. We want to make sure the buff is strong enough to make staying in your current game more rewarding than creating a new game. At the same time, if the buff is too strong, it risks making shorter play sessions feel not worthwhile.
We expect this system will encourage players to stick with a skill build of their choice, select an area of the game they enjoy, and sweep it for rare and champion packs on their way to a boss, finishing off a run with a boss that’ll be worth killing. If you wanted a shorter play session you could be done at that point, but if you have more time, the path of least resistance would ideally be to stay in the same game and make your way towards the next boss.
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
As far as I'm concerned, this looks satisfying. A few things, however:
-I don't think a time limit should be given with this. There are MANY things that can remove the buff. A time limit just feels completely ridiculous.
-Of course, losing it on death is more-or-less necessary without a time limit.
-I think if it doesn't stack, it kills 90% of the purpose of this buff. It should have you killing as much as possible up to a limit, where you kill a boss and get good chances for good loot. Thats how it sounds fun to me.
If it didn't stack then that means killing one pack of champions would be all you would have to do to increase your MF is very quickly (teleport, run though whatever) finding 1 champion, killing it then on to the boss making it still be a very short run defeating the purpose quoted here.
So by what the article says it almost would have to stack to make it worth it but if it stacks my idea would be it would have to reset if you go to town or change acts? If not you could go kill every champion between all acts, have it stacked to like 50 and go kill a boss getting some ridiculous drops.
And for group gameplay, would this buff average out like MF does? Or would it only affect your drops?
#72 US Wizards in Vanilla D3 - Aranoch#1167
And since they is always 1 champion mob somewhere on a level near the boss, you'd just back up 1 waypoint. It'd almost have to stack.
My favorite solution would be to have like 15 stacks, each granting a minor % of extra MF. Killing one boss pack on your way by accident shouldn't give you any advantage, but getting all 15 should net you a considerable bonus. Like that you'd also stay in the game and run other bosses.
My point exactly. Either there'd have to be a cap or it would have to reset using waypoints or traveling to the next act.
#72 US Wizards in Vanilla D3 - Aranoch#1167
However, some of their indecision is very worrying. I can see a few things that could really mess it up if they decide to go in that direction.
* As other people have said, if it doesn't stack it's going to turn into boss farming again. If you only need to kill 1 champion pack you'll just go straight for the boss and kill a pack on the way.
* I really think it needs to reset when you kill a boss (or change acts). Otherwise you'll hit the cap and then kill all the bosses in the game for awesome loot.
I'm excited but at the same time a bit letdown with the announcement. They didn't really tell us much to know if it'll be a good change or not.
yeah, this is what I'm saying up there ^^^^ a ways.
#72 US Wizards in Vanilla D3 - Aranoch#1167
Any difficulty my man!
Pretty much exactly my thoughts. Except, that I think the stacks should be halved after killing a boss instead of reset. This gives incentive to staying in that game and killing the other packs/bosses instead of leaving and starting a new game to kill that same boss.
Also, 10 stacks seems a bit too excessive. I was thinking something like 5 stacks, with 6 being more likely since it can still be a whole number when halved.