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To be fair I sold both the best item I found, and crafted. The best one I found was a rare ring which had a whole slew of great stats, mostly +21 attack and +7% attack speed. I found it very early during one of my first 5 character play throughs. I got an insane amount for it though, 50k. If I had found it now though, being more experienced, I wouldn't have sold it at all. It was the best ring I have seen in the game by far, maybe even the best item.

The best item I crafted was a rare Orb from the Blacksmith. I've crafted about 6 of these, since you can sell them for much, much more than it costs to craft them. The best Orb that I rolled had max +20% damage for Wizards, and some other decent random properties.

Sooo I'll just post my three favorite items I have right now :).

My two favorite, have to be my two Brutal Heavy Axes.

Brutal Heavy Axe Of Angels (Notice the SK checking the stat box out :P) & Brutal Heavy Axe Of Winter

These type of axes are the best melee weapons in the game at this point. Both of mine are very high rolls, and I paid a pretty penny for each. These axes can only be crafted, and range from 10-29 damage, 30%-35% Critial Hit Damage, and some other added type of damage, be it fire, cold, arcane, holy, poison, or lightning.

My Winter one, even though it's stats are a tad lower than the other, is much more useful and valuable. Cold damage slows enemies, same as it did in Diablo 2.

My favorite armor piece, would have to be my Rare Stranglers ;).

Again, these are the best gloves in the game for melee characters. This pair in particular is a pretty high roll, with useful stats, but not the best I've seen. While I'd rather a +attack stat than a +defense, the added defense does bring me from 7.14% reduced damage from a level 13 enemy without any gloves on (See here), to 33.90% with them on (See here).

Hope you enjoyed :).

I can say from experience the increase in monster HP makes a pretty big difference between one and four players. While you could stray from the group and manage, at least in the beta content, it would take much longer to mow through mobs, and you would be missing out on the loot dropping form the mobs your team mates are killing.

The scaling as of this moment seems pretty good.

Welcome!

Yeah, sadly Deventh is right. Like Daemaro said though, it's not that far off, especially if you pass the time around here!

Welcome!

Here's to hoping D3 steals your #1 favorite game spot!

Welcome!

Stick around here long enough and you'll become a D3 expert ;). Btw I haven't played D2 in forever either..

Quote from Caniroth

I want a Collector's Edition, so I will have to pick it up at the store. Hopefully there will be a midnight launch here :).

This. I'm willing to drive where ever I need to for a midnight release. Hopefully common stores like GameStop will host some, but for some reason I feel like they won't..

EDIT: On a site note, I really hope there are no company only offers, like how with most games you can get this gun skin by pre-ordering from amazon, or if you pre-order from Wamart you get this playable character, etc. Blizzard is too good for that kind of BS, there should be no special treatment.

Thanks everyone, your kindness does not go unnoticed :D.

Thank you :).

Well, lets face it. The Beta has been out for a while now, and you've likely watched enough footage to write one of these yourself. So, why exercise your eye muscles on this instead of more furious, Hulk smashing gameplay? Truthfully, if I may turn the camera towards myself for a second, I love the Barbarian class. Throughout the Diablo franchise I've been intrigued by no other class, and even with the introduction of the Monk, I've yet to budge in my interests. That being said, I've focused my playtime almost entirely on this class, and have done my best to learn its ins and outs in Diablo III so far. Rather than take you through the story line of the Beta through the eyes of the Barbarian, I'll be diving into the different aspects of the class itself.

Throughout the Diablo series there has been one primary tanking archetype, be it the Warrior in Diablo I, or the Barbarian in Diablo II and now Diablo III. While other classes can often be built to play a similar role, one could argue it comes most easily to the Barbarian. This is due to three main factors.



Through a multitude of skills the Barbarian uses super natural strength to pulverize foes (and barrels ;)). Most of these skills help enforce the feeling that the Barbarian is a heavy hitting character, dealing large chunks of damage with each hit, while not typically as quick or agile as the other classes. The Barbarians' skills are broken down into three groups, Fury Generators, Fury Spenders, and Situational. Though we only get access to a few of each in the Beta, there are still many potent combinations to play around with.

Many of these skills surprised me with their efficiency. When the Fury System was first announced I had some concern the Fury Generators would pale in comparison to the damage and efficiency of the Spenders. While the Spenders do typically pack more punch, either through pure damage or other effects, the Generators get the job done just fine.

The skills available in this category during the Beta include Bash, Cleave, Leap Attack, Ground Stomp, and Frenzy.

I found myself hard pressed to choice between these skills when all of them became available. Since for the most part the Beta is easy as pie, I narrowed it down to which I took the most pleasure in using, which is Bash and Leap Attack. All of the skills are efficient though, and could easily fit into many different builds. Speaking strictly for the Beta, at level 13 (level cap) you out class the monsters by enough that it really doesn't matter what skills you use, so it comes down to preference rather than necessity.


Sure, the Generators get the job done, but the Spenders bring more to the table in general, after all you have to work for these. These skills are so fun to use; each time I swing my Hammer Of The Ancients I feel like a boss.

The skills in this category available in the Beta are Hammer Of The Ancients, Threatening Shout, Battle Rage, Weapon Throw, and Rend.

Each one of these skills is a blast to use, though in most cases some seem to be more preferred than others. Since this is about my honest impressions of the class, I'll say I rarely use Threatening Shout, or Rend. While I could see their use when things get challenging, I find their effects less desirable than other more powerful skills such as Weapon Throw, or Hammer Of The Ancients in the easy atmosphere of the Beta. Even Weapon Throw seems to fall short, not in damage (it does an insane amount), but instead in availability.

At full Fury you only have enough to use Weapon Throw five times, and un-runed the skill only hits one enemy. So at best, you only get five kills out of a full Fury orb by using it. There is a Passive Skill to remedy this though, No Escape, which offers not only a 100% damage boost to Weapon Throw (and Ancient Spear), but returns 20 Fury for each enemy killed with it. Sadly, this Passive Skill is not available in the Beta.


Unlike the other categories, we only get access to two of these skills in the Beta.

These two skills are Ignore Pain, and Revenge.

Both certainly will have their uses come challenging encounters, but like some other skills, they are just unnecessary in easy environments. Either way, I gave them a try to understand how they could be used if need be. Ignore Pain could be great for a whole bunch of clutch situations, need those extra few seconds to rush through a crowd and attack a primary target? Low on heath and need to get out of there? Ignore Pain certainly has a niche.

Revenge also has plenty of situational uses, and saved my life once during early gameplay. During one of my early play-throughs of the Beta I came across a mod of Illusionist Grotesque mixed with some Skeletal Archers and regular Skeletons. Mods who are classified as Illusionists split into three when at 30% health or lower, each of the copies spawn with the same amount of heath the original creature had when it split.

So upon my slaying of the first Grotesque, it predictably exploded. What I didn't realize was the explosion had brought all of the other Grotesque to below 30% heath, so they each split into three. There was now give or take 15 Grotesque surrounding me. On top of that, the explosion killed the two Grotesque the original one split into, so a chain reaction of explosions occurred all around me, nearly killing me instantly (I wish I had a screen shot). Lucky for me, I had Revenge equipped and it had activated. I swiftly deployed the skill, killing most of the Corpse Worms which would have surely taken me, regained a good amount of health from the hits, which granted me enough time to grab some nearby health globes; effectively saving me from a certain and comical death.


The Passive Skills for the Barb add a mammoth amount options to toy with. Each has a very appealing buff, so choosing between them largely comes down to what you have in mind for your build. These are the toppings to the Barb pizza, adding just the right flavor to your build.

During the Beta four Passive Skills become available, Blood Thirst, Pound Of Flesh, Ruthless, and Weapons Master.

As with the Active Skills, some of these Passive Skills will have more appeal to the in high difficulties. Take Pound Of Flesh (Pictured right) for example, during easy, or even mildly difficult situations this may seem unnecessary, maybe the occasional life potion is enough. I'll willing to bet though, that during Inferno Difficulty the cooldown on potions will hinder their usefulness greatly, making health globes all the more valuable. These are the situations where less exciting, more tactical skills (both active and passive) will be used.



As with the previous installments, the heavy melee class starts with more life points, a necessary aspect of a tanking class. The Barb starts off with 84 life, compared to the Witch Doctors' 80, and the other classes' 76; this gap only increases with level. Aside from life, the Barb also starts off with 11 Defense, compared to the Monks' 10, Demon Hunters' and Witch Doctors' 9, and the Wizards' 8. Those few points make a world of difference. The Barbarians' 11 Defense grants 50% reduced damage, while the Wizards' 8 offers none at all.


Fury has sure turned out to be a great system for the Barbarian. Since the only way to build it is to smash things or take damage (unless you have the Unforgiving Passive Skill), it pushes you to participate in combat. While some of the other classes have mild issues with their resource, as it stands right now the Fury system works wonderfully. There is no abundance, or lack of Fury during combat. If you need Fury you build it, if you have Fury you spend it, and everything around you is dead by the end of it all.

If I could think of anything to be tweaked regarding Fury, it wouldn't be Fury itself, but instead how much Fury some Fury Spending skills use. As I mentioned before Weapon Throw is expensive, costing 20 Fury, which only goes into 100 five times. I'd like to see some changes to skills like that, where even if you don't have the perfect build (No Escape for Weapon Throw for example), you can still somewhat efficiently use the skills. This isn't game breaking, but it does deter the use of those over priced skills to some extent.

Also, I support this message. Special thanks to CherubDown for relaying it.



Blizzard is making sure all classes rely heavily on gear in Diablo III. The recent switch-up of base damage, to % weapon damage of almost every skill on every class pushes this even further. This change isn't reflected in the Beta, but you can head over to the Blizzard Skill Calculator to see the changes yourself.

Being a Barbarian player through the series, you get used to the fact that you are your gear. Small upgrades in armor or weapons can have a huge effect in gameplay. Throughout my experiences with the Barb so far, this holds true in Diablo III just as much as the previous games. The excitement of finding a new, better weapon is relatable to finding a $20 bill on the ground.

Sadly though, the Beta currently has a very limited amount of content. The only rare items I've seen drop are from the first slaying of the Skeleton King, and the only Legendary item I've seen is Griswold's Edge, which is only found on a randomly appearing Anvil in the Old Tristram Ruins, to which I have found three. I personally am near certain this isn't how the drop tables will be come release.

Aside from drops, crafting is a very viable means to get great items. In fact, most of the best items in the Beta right now can only be crafted. This is due to the fact that you are able to level your Black Smith higher than you normally would have by the time you defeat the Skeleton King on this difficulty, thus granting you access to gear that out classes the drops at this point in the game. This isn't to say you can just craft a perfect item, there are many variables which lend itself to a great crafted item. These variables are completely random, so getting a great roll can be very rare. This is where the Auction House comes in. I personally have used to Auction House for most of my gear. I tried to roll good items, but it just didn't happen.
What's interesting is for the most part, every class is looking for the same armor. Since the only restriction is level (unless it's class specific), and the Beta has so few sought after stats, as a Barb I'm looking for the same Gloves of many Wizards. This makes for a very competitive atmosphere in the Auction House, which is a great sign for the future.

As one would expect from a player based economy, most items are ridiculously overpriced at first. Something wonderful is starting to happen though, those overpriced items are not selling. Even in the Beta where players know nothing they're accomplishing will carry over to release, people are still refusing to pay for overpriced items. This brings the item price down, and slowly but surely will come to a standard price for that item depending on stats.


Blizzard has done a fine job at maintaining the heaviness that characterizes this class. Every time I see an enemy I'm drawn towards it like a magnet. The feeling that comes from knocking skeletons clean from your enemies' flesh is empowering, and extremely satisfying. The physics that ensue after these powerful strikes may look silly while watching gameplay footage, but let me assure you it feels just right when you're behind the controls. There are some tweaks to be done in this area if you scrutinize it, but nothing that will ruin your ground and pounding experience with the Barbarian. This class is for those who love being toe-to-toe with yo foes, ya dig?

Quote from Daemaro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKfuS6gfxPY

That was intense, very nice

Yes indeed X(

It's the smoothest looking gif out there though, the D2 one looks like crap nowa' days lol.

I'm pumped to see how the Tyrael NPC looks in D3 (if there is one). My hopes are so high I'm pretty sure I'm going to be disappointed no matter what lol.

Yeah I really like it :xD:. I highly doubt a better one will pop up until D3, and maybe not even then O_O.

It was a freaky movie for sure.. I've only seen the new one, but that's good enough for me lol.

I think they look good, throw dem up!

I look forward to the day when I fine a better Tyrael avatar.. Assuming he'll have a looping NPC in D3, that'll be my new baby *strokes mouse awkwardly*.

I've been loosely following this tread for the past few days, and beyond some overly personal remarks, which in themselves are often brought about by this topic, overall I find it very interesting. As long as this topic can be discussed maturely, it yields some good food for thought. While my perspective and opinions haven't changed, I've pondered each and every point made, and so came to this post in which I'll try to simplify what I feel is a complex question.

This isn't directed towards anyone in particular, but instead to anyone who believes in a higher being of one sort or another. Again, I in no way mean to push anyones buttons, but dancing around the topic doesn't do any good for clarity, so in my posts I may come across frank.

Many a time in this thread people who believe in a higher being are offended by comparing God to mystical figures such as fairies for example. I'd like to try to clarify why comparisons like this are made so often.

A common statement a non-believer will make is there is no proof in God. The word "proof" seems to have a broader meaning to some, so this word itself has to be looked at and broken down rationally. Many times in this thread the word "proof" has been attacked, saying nothing can be proven, not even scientifically; this is correct if you're speaking ultimately. This has been braking the clarity of the statement, "There is no proof of God". So instead, I'd like to reward it to, "There is no evidence of God". I feel this reflects the statement better.

I can say with confidence that Diablo III will not come out tomorrow, because there is a lot of evidence that points to it. Evidence is how we understand the world, and maybe the word "proof" reflects something that we as a race have trouble understanding, since it tends to change context under certain topics. Science has also been attacked in a similar way, saying it doesn't prove anything ultimately. Again, this may very well be true. Scientific laws get proven wrong all the time, and Scientists rejoice (kind of). Being proven wrong means that's just another step towards being truly right, if there is such a thing. The thing is though, speaking rationally, Science works. You can predict things to a very high percentage using it. Science stands on the shoulders of rational thinking. Even new ground breaking concepts are built on math and ration. Without this process we wouldn't have computers, food, or anything for that matter. Without logic, we would have nothing. Abstract thoughts have their use surely, and lead to a great amount of progress. The thing is though, those thoughts are always met with logics in order to produce the end result.

So speaking of evidence, beyond unusable personal accounts of God, there is no evidence for one to rationalize. I just want to state I'm not speaking of a humanized God, I know for a lot of you this isn't how you view the concept. There is a whole other fine line in that concept where this topic can get fuzzy. If you say God is everything (or at least the unknown), than you're just replacing the concept of nature with the word God, and adding some emotional attachment to it. That's a whole other area of this topic though.

Back to the point, there is just as much rational evidence of God as there is of anything else with an equal lack of evidence. There are numerous accounts of Bigfoot, all of which from unreliable accounts, which the same thing can be said for God. If I may try and read a common response to this, many who believe in God will say either, -I don't need proof, I've had experiences, or have felt it to be true-, or -God is an incomprehensible concept-. Both may be true, but they can't be used in debate. If you go to court and say, "Your Honor, I swear I didn't do it" the judge is going to ask you to show evidence. If you use those type of statements in this topic you are essentially saying the same thing.

Cautiously, I ask for a concise answer to why with no evidence, so many choose to believe in God, but not Bigfoot or things of the like.

Never heard of them before, Verity :). I like what I've heard so far, very mellow and out of the box.