Diablo 3 Launch Player Returning - I have Some Questions

[song414]

Hi all,

I bought this game at launch and played a wizard through the entire game once and quit. I am now back due to loot 2.0 and RoS. I plan on buying RoS. Now I want to give a quick breakdown of my background in the game so you can get a better understanding of my questions.

I have a lvl 32 wizard and a couple noob chars I tested (~lvl 10). I do not have any legendaries just yellows. I plan on playing primarily wizard and then either monk or WD or both (leaning towards WD first) I see tons of builds being posted but should I even bother looking at them until im lvl 60? I can't even use any of the runes required for most skills and don't have any gear that's decent. Keep in mind the AH is closed so I am strictly stuck to looking for items myself with loot 2.0.

I've searched and read many threads in the past few hours and was wondering if you could answer a couple of the following questions for me:


In order to get lvl 60 should I just go through the story multiple times on diff difficulties or is there a shortcut (D2 i could just fly through all 3 difficulties with a little help and lvl on cows. Is there anything similar here?)


What are some good builds/skills to focus on as wizard leveling up to 60? What about after I hit 60, should I keep same build? (I prefer killing faster over defense but would like to have just enough defense to survive most of the time.)


Ditto for WD build leveling up/after 60. (I really enjoyed necro in D2 with a huge army so that would be my preferred way of killing things and maybe a spell of my own I could use while my minions kill.)


Ditto for monk (guess my ideal build would be to punch the crap out of everything super fast in melee range and maybe do some AoE when i get surrounded.)


Should I sell items I dont need (yellows, blues) to npc or salvage? (I was told current mats will become worthless when RoS comes out so I should sell but is that accurate?) What about legendaries? Sell ones I dont need?


When opening a game to public do drop rates increase and difficulty scale? (I believe that this was the case when I played and that drops I see no one else can see or pick up)


What is the general consensus of multiplayer? Do you prefer to join games or play on your own? If you join games do you hunt together or go off on your own? PVP (I should say brawl) is any good or people use?) Any plans mentioned to expand it or is d3 gonna be strictly pve (I know there was talk to do some big pvp things after launch.)


Max space in stash is 3 full tabs correct? Inventory is one full tab too if i am not mistaken as well.


What is the uses of gold now that the AH is gone?


Any other tips/advice do you have to give to me you think would be beneficial?


Thanks in advance!

 

[song414]

You could try reading the last few pages of this thread:

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1690207

Seriously every single one of those questions has been answered within the last 1-2 weeks. Please try to find some of the answers yourself and then ask for advice that doesn't require a dissertation

I read through the thread on a daily basis the past 2 weeks and didn't find the answers to these questions. Most posts are talking about current loot 2.0 things and the prior week was what to snatch on the AH before it dissapears.

 

[Ritorix]

Play public games on Master difficulty if you dont have a 60. Don't reset the quests, ROS comes out soon and you dont want to be replaying Act1 when it hits.

Pick up and salvage everything - everything - then craft gear when you hit the level cap - mats are the same no matter your level.

Pick one character and stick with it until ROS, you will get paragon levels faster that way.

 

[AMD T-type]

I see tons of builds being posted but should I even bother looking at them until im lvl 60?

Nope, just play until 60 then start looking at builds.

In order to get lvl 60 should I just go through the story multiple times on diff difficulties or is there a shortcut (D2 i could just fly through all 3 difficulties with a little help and lvl on cows. Is there anything similar here?)

You get to level 60 in a single playthrough of the game, you don't play through it 4 times anymore.
Start out on Hard to get extra XP then as you get better gear up it to Expert and Master. Anyone who is halfway decent at the game should be able to play on Master with average to above average gear.

What are some good builds/skills to focus on as wizard leveling up to 60? What about after I hit 60, should I keep same build? (I prefer killing faster over defense but would like to have just enough defense to survive most of the time.)

They changed some runes and skills, until 60 just mess with all of them, find ones you like as you progress and unlock them. That way when you look up builds you will know how to use them properly.

Ditto for WD build leveling up/after 60. (I really enjoyed necro in D2 with a huge army so that would be my preferred way of killing things and maybe a spell of my own I could use while my minions kill.)

See above

Ditto for monk (guess my ideal build would be to punch the crap out of everything super fast in melee range and maybe do some AoE when i get surrounded.)

See above above

Should I sell items I dont need (yellows, blues) to npc or salvage? (I was told current mats will become worthless when RoS comes out so I should sell but is that accurate?) What about legendaries? Sell ones I dont need?

Really depends on how much money you have, but if you have a few million or more then it might be better to salvage in order to craft. They will still be useful when crafting mats for under level 60 chars, and crafting will really help if you get to a point when leveling to 60 and you run into a rut on a piece of equipment.

When opening a game to public do drop rates increase and difficulty scale? (I believe that this was the case when I played and that drops I see no one else can see or pick up)

Yes

What is the general consensus of multiplayer? Do you prefer to join games or play on your own? If you join games do you hunt together or go off on your own? PVP (I should say brawl) is any good or people use?) Any plans mentioned to expand it or is d3 gonna be strictly pve (I know there was talk to do some big pvp things after launch.)

I only play HC, so in that respect I enjoy it up to a certain point. The more people you play with the more XP you get and more items you can find, but once closer to 60 you have to be really carefull who you are playing with as to not get yourself killed. on SC it doesnt matter all that much, just max out DPS and go play.

Max space in stash is 3 full tabs correct? Inventory is one full tab too if i am not mistaken as well.

Correct, RoS is apparently allowing another tab.

What is the uses of gold now that the AH is gone?

Once RoS is released, money will be used for transmogrification and re-rolling stats on items. This will be VERY usefull when finding that piece of geear that is just one stat off from being great.

Any other tips/advice do you have to give to me you think would be beneficial?

Just go play the game and stop worrying about everything.


Also, as someone pointed out, almost every one of these questions has indeed been answered in the running Diablo thread over the past few weeks.

 

[song414]

Thanks for the input guys. Appreciate it.

 

[ValeTudo]

I purchased the game two Saturdays ago and just completed first run through on a Monk last night, Normal setting... wanted to just casually play. Ended the game at level 51 and had received several legendaries along the way, some that were matched with rare's of a few levels difference.

There is a 50% experience buff going on until end of month I believe.

I will play through again and with other characters, upping the difficulty for sure, Normal is too easy only used a healing pot during whole run about 5 to 10 times, if that.

Hope this helps.

 

[Harkamus]

I play monk almost exclusively. RoS might make me change mains to crusader. I have no experience with the other chars other than having alts that don't know what they are doing.

Experience buff lasts until the 24th, so let's get that out of the way first. So if you want to level paragon, do it now. It's the quickest leveling paragon on the hardest difficulty where you can still kill efficiently. For me, that is soloing Torment IV. For a group where I may be carrying one or two guildmates with another guildie that's decently geared, it's Torment III. Act 1 tends to have the best populated areas, specifically Cemetery, Weeping Willows right outside of Cemetary, Fields of Misery (especially if you find the Decaying Crypt dungeon which is a random chance), Leorics Manor backtracking through the Highlands maps until you reach the bridge in the south east corner a few maps down, and Halls of Agony 2 through the Butcher. Pick the quest to do the Cursed Hold and go through the route I laid out. Don't reset quests. You do get quest credit for killing Butcher and turning in to save Tyrael. It's even more if you are in a group.

Monk face punching build is classic cookie cutter. Your main attack will be Way of the Hundred Fists with any of the first three runes based on your preference. Those runes would be Hands of Lightning, Blazing Fists, and Fists of Fury in order from left to right. I like them all and change them from time to time depending on what I'm doing. Try them all and pick the one that lets you kill the fastest. Your right click ability will be Dashing Strike because it's too damn good not to slot Dashing Strike.

Dashing Strike lets you get out of hairy situations like poison, plague, desecrator, etc. It even lets you dash through waller and escape jailer. However, if you click Dashing and have the cursor targeting something like a tree if you're butted up against a wall from waller affix elites, then you will just nudge the wall. It's finicky. Your cursor must be targetting something that is free from a ground obstacle. It takes a while to get used to.

One of your 4 remaining skills will be Sweeping Wind with either Cyclone rune if you have, 25% critical chance or higher, the more the better. Otherwise, pick Bladestorm or Firestorm rune. The reason you pick Cyclone rune if you have high crit chance is only because that rune has a high chance to spawn a tornado if you land a critical.

One skill that will never be taken out is Serenity with Ascension rune. It is a no brainer. It's an invulnerability for 4 seconds.

That leaves two remaining slots. Pick a mantra of choice based on your gameplay. All have their place now. I pick Mantra of Healing with Spirit of Boon because I'm lacking in life on hit. Also, with Mantra of Healing, you can spam the skill and give a damage bubble to yourself and your allies if you're grouped. Other popular choices are Mantra of Retribution with Transgression rune (faster attack speed), Mantra of Retribution with Collateral Damage rune (damage reflect that is active all the time basically since it procs if you get hit or dodge (monks can't block without a shield). Mantra of Conviction with Overawe rune is still used as well. It gives a damage boost since mobs take more damage, especially if you spam cast it.

This leaves one remaining free slot for whatever skill of choice. I like Exploding Palm with Essence Burn rune.

Basically, you run around and cast Sweeping Wind if it has worn off by the time you find something to punch. Then place an Exploding Palm on a mob and watch the group explode. Oh yea, cast your Mantra as the situation needs.

 

[manini]

I play monk almost exclusively. RoS might make me change mains to crusader. I have no experience with the other chars other than having alts that don't know what they are doing.

Experience buff lasts until the 24th, so let's get that out of the way first. So if you want to level paragon, do it now. It's the quickest leveling paragon on the hardest difficulty where you can still kill efficiently. For me, that is soloing Torment IV. For a group where I may be carrying one or two guildmates with another guildie that's decently geared, it's Torment III. Act 1 tends to have the best populated areas, specifically Cemetery, Weeping Willows right outside of Cemetary, Fields of Misery (especially if you find the Decaying Crypt dungeon which is a random chance), Leorics Manor backtracking through the Highlands maps until you reach the bridge in the south east corner a few maps down, and Halls of Agony 2 through the Butcher. Pick the quest to do the Cursed Hold and go through the route I laid out. Don't reset quests. You do get quest credit for killing Butcher and turning in to say Tyrael. It's even more if you are in a group.

Monk face punching build is classic cookie cutter. Your main attack will be Way of the Hundred Fists with any of the first three runes based on your preference. Those runes would be Hands of Lightning, Blazing Fists, and Fists of Fury in order from left to right. I like them all and change them from time to time depending on what I'm doing. Try them all and pick the one that lets you kill the fastest. Your right click ability will be Dashing Strike because it's too damn good not to slot Dashing Strike.

Dashing Strike lets you get out of hairy situations like poison, plague, desecrator, etc. It even lets you dash through waller and escape jailer. However, if you click Dashing and have the cursor targeting something like a tree if you're butted up against a wall from waller affix elites, then you will just nudge the wall. It's finicky. Your cursor must be targetting something that is free from a ground obstacle. It takes a while to get used to.

One of your 4 remaining skills will be Sweeping Wind with either Cyclone rune if you have, 25% critical chance or higher, the more the better. Otherwise, pick Bladestorm or Firestorm rune. The reason you pick Cyclone rune if you have high crit chance is only because that rune has a high chance to spawn a tornado if you land a critical.

One skill that will never be taken out is Serenity with Ascension rune. It is a no brainer. It's an invulnerability for 4 seconds.

That leaves two remaining slots. Pick a mantra of choice based on your gameplay. All have their place now. I pick Mantra of Healing with Spirit of Boon because I'm lacking in life on hit. Also, with Mantra of Healing, you can spam the skill and give a damage bubble to yourself and your allies if you're grouped. Other popular choices are Mantra of Retribution with Transgression rune (faster attack speed), Mantra of Retribution with Collateral Damage rune (damage reflect that is active all the time basically since it procs if you get hit or dodge (monks can't block without a shield). Mantra of Conviction with Overawe rune is still used as well. It gives a damage boost since mobs take more damage, especially if you spam cast it.

This leaves one remaining free slot for whatever skill of choice. I like Exploding Palm with Essence Burn rune.

Basically, you run around and cast Sweeping Wind if it has worn off by the time you find something to punch. Then place an Exploding Palm on a mob and watch the group explode. Oh yea, cast your Mantra as the situation needs.

I'm in the same boat as OP and also use a Monk currently at level 40 and found this post very useful. Thanks for the tips.

 

[theNoid]

As a launch player coming back, one thing is for sure...

..You're going to start having fun with the game! Worry not about all your questions, just play, get loot and keep playing.