Blog Your Current Game

[jmotivator]

So after the patch this morning I decided to go back to the Necromancer since it got all the buffs this time around.

Since I was coming back I decided to play around with the skills (if there is one good thing to say about Diablo 4 it's that you can change up your character build on the fly) and found a build that is actually pretty fun and powerful.

The build really only works after you can summon reapers, but I got an actual interesting drop this morning that gives me bonuses based on the number of corpses I consume, up to 35% bonus damage, so I change my Skeletons to Reapers since they make a lot of corpses, increased the chance of generating corpses on attack, and now I just blow everything up. It's a poor man's Mist Explosion.

So far so good...

 

[jmotivator]

Hahah... so after I started piecing together my poor man's Explosive Mist build I decided to stop guessing and go look to see if Explosive Mist is still in the game.

The D4 database showed that it was, but it wasn't tied to a specific piece of gear. Instead, it is a randomly appearing Unique aspect that can only appear on dropped gear.
The aspect can appear on weapons, chest armor, amulets, gloves, shields and boots.

I decided to spend some of my credits on the gambler since I was already in need of some boots.

Second set of boots had the Explosive Mist trait....

Ok, all set. Thanks game.

 

[jmotivator]

The biggest nerf to the "Explosive Mist" trait is that it had a significant decrease of the trigger tick, and the cool down was increased to 25 seconds
Between the two changes, the perpetual explosions are a thing of the past.

Under the new stats I decided to switch up the configuration of corpse explosion to trigger a large poison area rather than explode. This helped a lot since the persistence of the ground effect significantly decreases the down time. I just need to stack damage over time now.
With this configuration I was able to punch significantly above my level, so I have been focusing on unlocking teleporters around the map and taking out the various unique enemies scattered across the map to see what they drop.

None of them so far have dropped anything for a Necromancer, but there are some pretty good weapon drops for Barbarian and Sorcerer.

So it appears that the post game builds will largely focus on getting the right unique gear and pairing it with the right unique trait. While the better unique traits are gathered from drops rater than dungeons, there is still a distinct lack of randomness to the game that will hurt it in the long run.

While I've only finished Act 1, the game is so open that there really don't seem to be traditional acts, just three separate story lines to complete. So I'm probably way ahead of any level curve for the "Act" dungeons at level 45. I was 5 levels above the final Act 1 dungeon.

I guess I've come to terms with the new game, it oddly plays more like an old RPG like Fallout when it comes to itemization... I'm sure game breaking synergies exist, I just haven't found them yet... but then I wouldn't tell anyone at this point for fear of getting it nerfed by Blizzard who continue to be then enemy of min/maxing fun.

 

[jmotivator]

Last observation on Diablo IV since I will likely take a break starting tomorrow on official launch day since it will likely just be long queues..

I am seeing the current state of Diablo IV as very similar to the state of Diablo 3 at launch.

Granted, I have no experience wit the end game in Diablo IV yet, but based on the itemization I have seen so far, I don't have high hopes. As far as I can tell the "end game" is leveling up the Paragon tree, and I guess HOW you do that is what really matters.

I've officially killed all of the Unique overworld enemies and collected their special drop. The special drops are all yellow quality but they have a set number of characteristics and all that is rolled is how strong those characteristics are. I was hoping one of them would drop a scythe that had summons-targeted stats, but it seems like only the Sorcerer and the Barbarian (??) get targeted weapons.

A this rate I've done so much exploring and unique enemy hunting that I'm going to hit level 50 well before I finish Act II.

 

[Mr Person]

Been playing around with Baldur's Gate III. Not much. Only lvl 2. Looks like Divinity: Original Sin 2, which isn't surprising. Many elements are similar. But of course it's DnD-based rules so the mechanics/play are different in any number of ways.

It's only early access so I'll probably focus more on finishing off my first divinity game, maybe seeing if CoD Black Ops III has good multiplayer.



Though....I did just get a decked out MacBook Pro M2 max and another external 2tb SSD, so I'm probably going to shuffle some files around, run parallels/etc, and *vomit* run Windows, so I can play whatever the latest version of Doom is, etc. I miss my FPS games, and I'm getting a little more time: kiddo doesn't require quite the absolute laser focus he did for the first 2-2.5 years.

 

[Redress]

Been playing around with Baldur's Gate III. Not much. Only lvl 2. Looks like Divinity: Original Sin 2, which isn't surprising. Many elements are similar. But of course it's DnD-based rules so the mechanics/play are different in any number of ways.

But the cutscenes are so incredible. And I usually hate cutscenes...

 

[Redress]

Diablo 4 server crashes(and shutting down with no notice for patches) are far too frequent and annoying. Bow rogue tho is fun.

 

[Geoist]

Definitely enjoying Diablo IV more than III, so far. Lilith is a better villain than Malthael.

 

[Mr Person]

But the cutscenes are so incredible. And I usually hate cutscenes...

The lack of map-markers is irritating, though. I've got to keep complicated notes on where things that I need to go back for later are, like this mound I have to dig up once I find a shovel that I must have walked right on past. I'm no programmer, but would it really be much trouble to bring over a function that's already fully programmed in Divinity 2?

 

[jmotivator]

The lack of map-markers is irritating, though. I've got to keep complicated notes on where things that I need to go back for later are, like this mound I have to dig up once I find a shovel that I must have walked right on past. I'm no programmer, but would it really be much trouble to bring over a function that's already fully programmed in Divinity 2?

I purchased BG3 way back when the game was in pre-release. I played it for about 2 weeks and set it aside waiting for the full release.

Two and a half years later and it's still in beta.

I know that it's weird for ME of all people to be disparaging a beta game since it's pretty much all I play, but two and a half years for a game like BG3 seems excessive. It's not like it has technological hurdles to overcome.

 

[Mr Person]

Maybe I'll play around with PoE. Never did before. Doesn't look like Diablo IV is likely to come out for Mac, and I haven't gotten around to setting up parallels/etc

 

[jmotivator]

Maybe I'll play around with PoE. Never did before. Doesn't look like Diablo IV is likely to come out for Mac, and I haven't gotten around to setting up parallels/etc

PoE is a good game. If it suffers from anything it is content overload.

 

[jmotivator]

I decided to abandon my Necromancer in D4 until they make the class fun.

Interestingly I started a a sorcerer that just wasn't grabbing me, and decided to just go full meta and do a Barbarian whirlwind build.

And I tried and I tried and I just couldn't get it to work. One of the more important pieces of that build's puzzle is an aspect that pulls enemies in to you while you are channeling whirlwind, and I have tried everything to get that aspect to drop and at level 51 still nothing. Not sure if it is super rare of I'm just super unlucky, but I decided to abandon the build and respec to something else.

The change was spurred by a drop of an axe that had an interesting aspect on it that helped the skill "Hammer of the Ancients" which made is much larger AOE attack with more damage.

Luckily respeccing is pretty easy in this game, and a few minutes later I took the new build out for a spin and it kicks ass.

It's one of the weirdest things about D4 is that there is no real flat play field for all of the various "core" skills in a given class. This Hammer build for the Barbarian is insanely easy and doesn't rely on chance at all. After my successful test run I found out that the aspect that is the basis for the unique weapon is a codex aspect, meaning you will get it by completing a specific dungeon and then you can use it to just create the unique.

Whirlwind may very well be the leading build in the late game, but in late mid game my barbarian became 3 times as effective by giving up the dream.

 

[Redress]

I decided to abandon my Necromancer in D4 until they make the class fun.

Interestingly I started a a sorcerer that just wasn't grabbing me, and decided to just go full meta and do a Barbarian whirlwind build.

And I tried and I tried and I just couldn't get it to work. One of the more important pieces of that build's puzzle is an aspect that pulls enemies in to you while you are channeling whirlwind, and I have tried everything to get that aspect to drop and at level 51 still nothing. Not sure if it is super rare of I'm just super unlucky, but I decided to abandon the build and respec to something else.

The change was spurred by a drop of an axe that had an interesting aspect on it that helped the skill "Hammer of the Ancients" which made is much larger AOE attack with more damage.

Luckily respeccing is pretty easy in this game, and a few minutes later I took the new build out for a spin and it kicks ass.

It's one of the weirdest things about D4 is that there is no real flat play field for all of the various "core" skills in a given class. This Hammer build for the Barbarian is insanely easy and doesn't rely on chance at all. After my successful test run I found out that the aspect that is the basis for the unique weapon is a codex aspect, meaning you will get it by completing a specific dungeon and then you can use it to just create the unique.

Whirlwind may very well be the leading build in the late game, but in late mid game my barbarian became 3 times as effective by giving up the dream.

I am enjoying a whirlwind build(at lower levels), but it has a bunch of troubles. Chain Lightning sorceress is my main build, and it is pretty good so far(level 35, Act 2).

 

[justabubba]

need some help
haven't touched a game console since nintendo was launched during the last millennium

14 year old 'broke' his PS4 when it 'fell off of his desk' ... younger siblings indicate it was during a moment of pique

he wants a new system. i assume ps5 is the one to look for. but there is the console model and the digital model
since he has his PS4 games should the purchase be for a console unit with the disc drive or the digital model that relies on access to games only via the internet?

and maybe more importantly, what else should be considered when looking for a replacement gaming system?

finally, any recommendations where to go or where/what to avoid when seeking a vendor to make the purchase?

*luddite out*

 

[jmotivator]

need some help
haven't touched a game console since nintendo was launched during the last millennium

14 year old 'broke' his PS4 when it 'fell off of his desk' ... younger siblings indicate it was during a moment of pique

he wants a new system. i assume ps5 is the one to look for. but there is the console model and the digital model
since he has his PS4 games should the purchase be for a console unit with the disc drive or the digital model that relies on access to games only via the internet?

and maybe more importantly, what else should be considered when looking for a replacement gaming system?

finally, any recommendations where to go or where/what to avoid when seeking a vendor to make the purchase?

*luddite out*

Unless you are trying to buy second hand, there isn't much difference between sellers... well, except on Amazon where there is a real problem with fly by night resellers of electronics.

My primary suggestion is to buy from a brick & mortar store since you will get the same thing regardless of where you buy it.

As for the choice between digital and disk versions I would choose the disk only because you can play the old PS4 games you have on disk and so long as the game runs entirely on the console you can still play it even if Sony stops distributing the game. You never really own a digital copy of a game, or a game that requires back end servers, since the distributor can shut the game down whenever they feel like it.

 

[jmotivator]

I am enjoying a whirlwind build(at lower levels), but it has a bunch of troubles. Chain Lightning sorceress is my main build, and it is pretty good so far(level 35, Act 2).

The problem with most classes so far is the abysmal resource system in the game. Some classes have better solutions to the constant "Out of Mana" issue than others, but most of the best solutions will likely be nerfed.

The problem I was having with the Whirlwind build was that the visual and audio queues for when whirlwind is actually working are not great so I lose track when in large groups whether or not my whirlwind is going... I mean, it took a split second to figure it out, but the fact that I need to look around for queues was just too annoying. With Hammer of the Ancients I get much better feedback and I dump all the Fury and Damage in one go so I don't have to guess.

Specifically there is a Druid build that uses only basic attacks that does insane damage, but Blizzard has shown that with D4 the solution to every fun build is to nerf it.

 

[Redress]

The problem with most classes so far is the abysmal resource system in the game. Some classes have better solutions to the constant "Out of Mana" issue than others, but most of the best solutions will likely be nerfed.

The problem I was having with the Whirlwind build was that the visual and audio queues for when whirlwind is actually working are not great so I lose track when in large groups whether or not my whirlwind is going... I mean, it took a split second to figure it out, but the fact that I need to look around for queues was just too annoying. With Hammer of the Ancients I get much better feedback and I dump all the Fury and Damage in one go so I don't have to guess.

Specifically there is a Druid build that uses only basic attacks that does insane damage, but Blizzard has shown that with D4 the solution to every fun build is to nerf it.

I have not had that problem with the whirlwind build. My biggest problem is with single enemy fights. Any fight against a group seems, at least so far, to be self-sustaining. My problem I saw with Hammer of the Ancients was the area of effect was just too small. My biggest problem with the game is I do not have enough time to really figure much out, and my attention deficit means I have 8 builds I am playing with, so none get the time to really get anywhere. I am finally pushing my Sorc through the main quest to try and get a mount anyway.

 

[Redress]

need some help
haven't touched a game console since nintendo was launched during the last millennium

14 year old 'broke' his PS4 when it 'fell off of his desk' ... younger siblings indicate it was during a moment of pique

he wants a new system. i assume ps5 is the one to look for. but there is the console model and the digital model
since he has his PS4 games should the purchase be for a console unit with the disc drive or the digital model that relies on access to games only via the internet?

and maybe more importantly, what else should be considered when looking for a replacement gaming system?

finally, any recommendations where to go or where/what to avoid when seeking a vendor to make the purchase?

*luddite out*

I do not know enough to help you with this, but I would recommend making a thread on it, as your post will likely get lost in this thread kinda thing.

 

[jmotivator]

I have not had that problem with the whirlwind build. My biggest problem is with single enemy fights. Any fight against a group seems, at least so far, to be self-sustaining. My problem I saw with Hammer of the Ancients was the area of effect was just too small. My biggest problem with the game is I do not have enough time to really figure much out, and my attention deficit means I have 8 builds I am playing with, so none get the time to really get anywhere. I am finally pushing my Sorc through the main quest to try and get a mount anyway.

Fair, Hammer of the Ancients is only valuable with the Ancestral Force aspect on a 2H mace. The upside is that, unlike the whirlwind build, the Ancestral Force aspect is a core codex aspect you earn from finishing the Sunken Ruins dungeon in Scosglen so it is MUCH easier to upgrade your hammer since you don't have to wait for a unique to drop with the aspect on it. That was one of the other huge issues with the whirlwind build.

I felt trapped in old gear a lot waiting for an aspect to drop so that I could upgrade to higher level gear.

Granted, my Hammer build got a kick start since the Ancestral Force aspect dropped on a piece of gear while I was running the whirlwind build and I decided to just try the hammer build. I still have a lot to sort out in this build, but I'm way ahead of where I would have been.

I'm fire up a Druid for this Zero-resource build I watched this morning but it's so insanely good that I can only assume that it will be nerfed long before I level up to get it started. It also requires a specific staff that is apparently extremely rare.

 

[jmotivator]

One last observation on Diablo 4 that I think I'm the last to realize (since I am putting off actually finishing the main quests for so long) is that most of the build guides are useless until after you finish the main quest line.

I'm used to the term "End Game Build" meaning the build you use when you have unlocked the skill tree and farmed the best-in-slot weapons, but it appears that the "End Game" in Diablo 4 unlocks a whole set of unique items and aspects that aren't available until after you complete the main quests.

I'm starting to realize I might have wasted a lot of resources chasing gear that just wasn't available yet.

Ah well...

 

[jmotivator]

What may end up being the unforgiveable sin for Diablo IV for me is that there is so much randomness in items that it really is just a crapshoot regardless of how much you challenge yourself.

I had hints that the randomness was too... random? for a while when I was running nightmare dungeons at 5 levels above my current level and getting item drops that were 5+ levels below my current level.

But it all got worse, and came in to more focus when I got a unique chest piece to drop that was a duplicate of the one I was wearing, but 8 levels higher... and a base level 51 levels below the one I was wear.

There seems to be little point in challenging yourself with higher dungeons when the power of the gear, even sufficiently up-leveled, is still a complete crap-shoot.

 

[Redress]

I had my procedure done yesterday(cardioversion), so hopefully I am going to have more time and feel more like doing something with my time, and progress with Diablo 4 some. I am mostly threw the 3rd act now with my sorc.

 

[Redress]

Finally got a mount, will try it out later, but the game is so laggy on HD I am moving it to my SSD, so can't do anything to it finishes install.

Why is rare loot more common than common loot?

 

[jmotivator]

While playing Diablo 4 end game I ended up getting most of the pieces for the most common Barbarian Whirlwind build to drop, so I have made the change.

While it is definitely a better build for survivability (being able to pass through mobs is pretty important for melee) and damage is good, it just seems off.

Granted, Blizzard did more than just nerf the barbarian they disabled several aspects that a barbarian bleed build would reply on. That is just awful game management. Legendries with these aspects can still drop, but they do nothing.

I'm starting to think they disabled one of the whirlwind build uniques I have equipped too, or the effect is so small that I don't notice it happening.

And with all of that nerfing and hamstringing it's still the most serviceable build? This is going to get painful, I think.

Path of Exile 2 can't come soon enough....