I would second the opinion that farming speed > everything else. Though, isn't it also true that higher Acts have a higher ilvl drop rate? I know it is possible for ilvl 61 and 62 rares to be better than 63, but if you are trying to maximize ilvl (if not necessarily drop quality) higher acts are better.
The "damage" shown on the left of the character page (under armor) is somewhat of a misnomer, as it takes attack speed into account. If you hold your mouse over a weapon, the large number is dps, which factors in weapon damage, attack speed, and any other damage affecting affixes on the weapon. If you look below that large number, it shows both the weapon damage and attack speed. So the green or red value which shows the difference in "damage" does factor in both weapon damage and attack speed.
I think the 170k damage on the Armaddon is referring specifically to the slam attack, which I assume since it's telegraphed Blizzard intends for you to dodge and makes it extremely punitive if you don't. I would wager most telegraphed mechanics like that will come close to one-shotting you in Inferno.
So, I realize that monster stats will undoubtedly be different in the final version, but I'm guessing that the ratios reflect the designer's intent. From the 4 monsters shown it appears that the scaling from Hell to Inferno will be truly brutal. The guide showed one lvl 61, two lvl 62, and one lvl 63. The health boost of about x5 is scary, but the damage increase of at least x4 is truly frightening. I'm semi disregarding the 170k on the Armaddon, as I think it's safe to assume any really telegraphed enemy move in Inferno will be close to a one hit KO.
Anyone else think Inferno will live up to Blizzard's advertising? I think it really might take the farming of each tier of Inferno to live through the next one.
Edit: In case I didn't make it clear I'm really excited to get stomped in Inferno.... and to watch everyone else get stomped as well!
Well, Blizzard is comparing some parts of the game to WoW too. It is kind of natural because process of creation for WoW was influenced by Diablo 2. The same goes for Diablo 3, some parts are influenced by what worked or didn't work in WoW. Example: attributes distribution.
I agree with this. Other examples include the skill/rune system learning from the WoW talent system (which in MoP is going to be moving much more towards the D3 model), the way advanced encounters are being designed with mini-raid like mechanics, and perhaps even (though this may be a little bit of a stretch) a more attainable max level with endgame focused purely on items. I personally find both the similarities and differences to be mostly positive. How is it a bad thing if Blizzard took things it learned from WoW and applied them in certain applications to D3?
WotB does by 20%, 60% if you rune it. War Cry can be runed for 15%. Sprint can be runed for 12%. Not nearly as much dodge as a monk, but Barbs still do have access to quite a bit of dodge if desired.
Here's my non-crit (mostly solo) build, probably using either a 2H or 1H/Shield setup. I figure this is going to be my build for leveling and early farming, before I have the equipment to switch out some survival skills for dps skills. I'm not opposed to being in a group, but I don't want to have to switch playing style to make it work.
My basic philosophy for this build is to have 1 fury generator (single target), 1 aoe fury spender, and then survival focused skills for the rest.
Frenzy (Maniac) - This and my sixth skill slot were what I was most torn over. I went with what appears to be the most single target damage. I know there's significant ramp up time, but I figure that most bosses in Hell and Inferno will take sufficient time that Frenzy will outdo Bash.
Whirlwind (Volcanic Eruption) - Best AoE that will actually move me in the middle enemy mobs, so it works well with Revenge. I considered the Hurricane rune, but wouldn't that mean that I move past mobs more quickly and hit them fewer times? Please correct me if I'm wrong on that, Hurricane would be great for mobility.
Leap (Iron Impact) - My favorite Barb mobility skill. Great move for initiating and escaping, and amazingly useful for moving between different vertical levels. I went with Iron Impact instead of Death from Above because in higher difficulty levels those stun amounts would probably be a fraction of what they are in normal (assuming CC faces similar reductions to those found in D2).
Revenge (Provocation) - I personally think this is a no-brainer skill for every Barb build. Great damage and % life return, Provocation is also a no brainer: twice as often beats any other bonus.
War Cry (Invigorate) - Essential for the armor boost. Rune wise, I think the life regen is what is going to make enemy cc survivable; revenge or lifesteal isn't going to help if I get feared for 10 seconds.
Ignore Pain (Iron Hide) - Hopefully I can switch this out for a dps skill, but for early Inferno farming I think this is the best survival skill. If I'm in a group, I could see Mob Rule as an alternative.
Passives: Inspiring Presence - Gives more passive regen (a must for the times when I'm CCed and unable to heal through Revenge or potions) and gives me a little more choice over when I want a fury boost from War Cry.
Tough as Nails - Armor boost. 'Nuff said.
? - Not sure. Defense wise, it's tough to say one of these is superior over the rest: Nerves of Steel, Superstition, Relentless, and Juggernaut. If my equipment is good enough to survive without any of these, I'd probably try to use Weapon Master here for either increased damage or attack speed.
One more additional question: Is there viable alternative to whirlwind? From just an initial glance, I don't think any of them would be more single target damage than frenzy (unless I completely changed direction and went for a crit build and Hammer of the Ancients), and whirlwind seems to be the most damaging aoe.
Oh, and thanks for wading through this wall of text!
Can dodges proc Revenge? I realize that the tooltip says "each time you are hit," but I thought the possibility might exist since it has been confirmed that blocks will proc Revenge.
The topic states it pretty well, but here's my question: Is a 1H+Shield Monk a viable way to go? Here's my (fairly short) pro/con list:
Pro
+ more survivability
+ avoids issue of two 1H weapons with too large a dps disparity; I initially thought this would only be an issue while leveling, but then I realized that dps difference would persist even in inferno until I had gotten truly best in slot stuff.
Con
- Armor & Block don't synergize well with Monk's dodge heavy skills; though more survivability is always good, it won't benefit a monk like it would a Barbarian with all their Armor and Life boosting skills
- Lower dps than either dual wielding 1H or using 2H. Though there are potential situations where dps would actually be higher with a better 1H and shield.
My (slightly wishy-washy) conclusion is that there isn't a best way to go, so I would just go with what the best equipment is, or if I'm feeling too squishy. Any thoughts?
Frenzy (Maniac) - Best fury generator since increased attack speed = more critical hits. Maniac seems to be the best overall dps increase.
Hammer of the Ancients (Birthright) - Hammer as the main fury-spender, with an increased critical chance . Birthright provides additional farming potential. If I want survivability I would switch from Birthright to Thunderstrike; while perhaps not as effective against solo bosses, it would make surviving mobs much easier.
Leap (Death from Above) - I wanted one mobility move to get out of trouble, or for convenience for switching between vertical levels and jumping over walls. The stun from Death from Above seemed like an obvious survival skill; I considered Iron Impact, but a 3 sec stun seems preferable to a 4 sec armor boost.
Overpower (Revel) - The self-healing portion. With the massive increases to crit strike, should be hitting substantially more often than every 15 seconds.
Battle Rage (?) - The buff itself is a must have for a crit build. Passive wise, I'm pretty torn. Marauder's Rage is probably the best overall dps, and Ferocity would be great for convenience. Swords to Ploughshares would be good for smooth farming, but it might not be necessary. However, I'm actually leaning towards Bloodshed; this build has limited aoe, so being able to have standard Frenzy attacks hit for aoe would be very helpful.
Wrath of the Beserker (Thrive on Chaos) - The long cooldown. Went with Thrive on Chaos because increased uptime will hopefully be more of a dps boost than Insanity or Slaughter.
Obvious passives: Ruthless & Weapon Master. Lots more crit chance.
3rd passive: I went with Bloodthirst, but didn't know if there was anything that might be better. Lots of survivability and dps options,
Uses Rend and Overpower to get life back, while Frenzy and Hammer of the Ancients are the main damage dealers. Increased crit chance and damage through Wrath, Weapons Master and Ruthless works well with both Hammer of the Ancients and Overpower cooldown resets.
Possible minor changes: Frenzy could be changed for the 12% life on kill, but with Rend & Overpower & the Bloodthirst passive, I thought damage might be more useful. The War Cry rune could also be changed to either more armor or resistance, depending on equipment setup.
The only 2 major changes I am considering are
1) Is Bloodthirst is necessary with Rend & Overpower both runed for life regen? Switching it out for either Animosity or Boon of Bul-Kathos would be more damage.
2) If I need some kind of pull/opener. My preference would probably be Leap Attack with the pull, so as to set up Rend and Overpower.
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Anyone else think Inferno will live up to Blizzard's advertising? I think it really might take the farming of each tier of Inferno to live through the next one.
Edit: In case I didn't make it clear I'm really excited to get stomped in Inferno.... and to watch everyone else get stomped as well!
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I agree with this. Other examples include the skill/rune system learning from the WoW talent system (which in MoP is going to be moving much more towards the D3 model), the way advanced encounters are being designed with mini-raid like mechanics, and perhaps even (though this may be a little bit of a stretch) a more attainable max level with endgame focused purely on items. I personally find both the similarities and differences to be mostly positive. How is it a bad thing if Blizzard took things it learned from WoW and applied them in certain applications to D3?
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My basic philosophy for this build is to have 1 fury generator (single target), 1 aoe fury spender, and then survival focused skills for the rest.
http://us.battle.net...XVkR!XVb!ccacbZ
Frenzy (Maniac) - This and my sixth skill slot were what I was most torn over. I went with what appears to be the most single target damage. I know there's significant ramp up time, but I figure that most bosses in Hell and Inferno will take sufficient time that Frenzy will outdo Bash.
Whirlwind (Volcanic Eruption) - Best AoE that will actually move me in the middle enemy mobs, so it works well with Revenge. I considered the Hurricane rune, but wouldn't that mean that I move past mobs more quickly and hit them fewer times? Please correct me if I'm wrong on that, Hurricane would be great for mobility.
Leap (Iron Impact) - My favorite Barb mobility skill. Great move for initiating and escaping, and amazingly useful for moving between different vertical levels. I went with Iron Impact instead of Death from Above because in higher difficulty levels those stun amounts would probably be a fraction of what they are in normal (assuming CC faces similar reductions to those found in D2).
Revenge (Provocation) - I personally think this is a no-brainer skill for every Barb build. Great damage and % life return, Provocation is also a no brainer: twice as often beats any other bonus.
War Cry (Invigorate) - Essential for the armor boost. Rune wise, I think the life regen is what is going to make enemy cc survivable; revenge or lifesteal isn't going to help if I get feared for 10 seconds.
Ignore Pain (Iron Hide) - Hopefully I can switch this out for a dps skill, but for early Inferno farming I think this is the best survival skill. If I'm in a group, I could see Mob Rule as an alternative.
Passives:
Inspiring Presence - Gives more passive regen (a must for the times when I'm CCed and unable to heal through Revenge or potions) and gives me a little more choice over when I want a fury boost from War Cry.
Tough as Nails - Armor boost. 'Nuff said.
? - Not sure. Defense wise, it's tough to say one of these is superior over the rest: Nerves of Steel, Superstition, Relentless, and Juggernaut. If my equipment is good enough to survive without any of these, I'd probably try to use Weapon Master here for either increased damage or attack speed.
One more additional question: Is there viable alternative to whirlwind? From just an initial glance, I don't think any of them would be more single target damage than frenzy (unless I completely changed direction and went for a crit build and Hammer of the Ancients), and whirlwind seems to be the most damaging aoe.
Oh, and thanks for wading through this wall of text!
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0
Pro
+ more survivability
+ avoids issue of two 1H weapons with too large a dps disparity; I initially thought this would only be an issue while leveling, but then I realized that dps difference would persist even in inferno until I had gotten truly best in slot stuff.
Con
- Armor & Block don't synergize well with Monk's dodge heavy skills; though more survivability is always good, it won't benefit a monk like it would a Barbarian with all their Armor and Life boosting skills
- Lower dps than either dual wielding 1H or using 2H. Though there are potential situations where dps would actually be higher with a better 1H and shield.
My (slightly wishy-washy) conclusion is that there isn't a best way to go, so I would just go with what the best equipment is, or if I'm feeling too squishy. Any thoughts?
0
http://us.battle.net...XQiP!ZYd!cccccc
Frenzy (Maniac) - Best fury generator since increased attack speed = more critical hits. Maniac seems to be the best overall dps increase.
Hammer of the Ancients (Birthright) - Hammer as the main fury-spender, with an increased critical chance . Birthright provides additional farming potential. If I want survivability I would switch from Birthright to Thunderstrike; while perhaps not as effective against solo bosses, it would make surviving mobs much easier.
Leap (Death from Above) - I wanted one mobility move to get out of trouble, or for convenience for switching between vertical levels and jumping over walls. The stun from Death from Above seemed like an obvious survival skill; I considered Iron Impact, but a 3 sec stun seems preferable to a 4 sec armor boost.
Overpower (Revel) - The self-healing portion. With the massive increases to crit strike, should be hitting substantially more often than every 15 seconds.
Battle Rage (?) - The buff itself is a must have for a crit build. Passive wise, I'm pretty torn. Marauder's Rage is probably the best overall dps, and Ferocity would be great for convenience. Swords to Ploughshares would be good for smooth farming, but it might not be necessary. However, I'm actually leaning towards Bloodshed; this build has limited aoe, so being able to have standard Frenzy attacks hit for aoe would be very helpful.
Wrath of the Beserker (Thrive on Chaos) - The long cooldown. Went with Thrive on Chaos because increased uptime will hopefully be more of a dps boost than Insanity or Slaughter.
Obvious passives: Ruthless & Weapon Master. Lots more crit chance.
3rd passive: I went with Bloodthirst, but didn't know if there was anything that might be better. Lots of survivability and dps options,
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http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#WcZSUP!dZY!ZZabab
Uses Rend and Overpower to get life back, while Frenzy and Hammer of the Ancients are the main damage dealers. Increased crit chance and damage through Wrath, Weapons Master and Ruthless works well with both Hammer of the Ancients and Overpower cooldown resets.
Possible minor changes: Frenzy could be changed for the 12% life on kill, but with Rend & Overpower & the Bloodthirst passive, I thought damage might be more useful. The War Cry rune could also be changed to either more armor or resistance, depending on equipment setup.
The only 2 major changes I am considering are
1) Is Bloodthirst is necessary with Rend & Overpower both runed for life regen? Switching it out for either Animosity or Boon of Bul-Kathos would be more damage.
2) If I need some kind of pull/opener. My preference would probably be Leap Attack with the pull, so as to set up Rend and Overpower.