IndiraLightfoot

Hi all! Here's a lengthy report from Sanctuary! I begin with a little Easter Egg, which can be seen sometimes in the cemetery of Westmarch. There's a cluster of neon-pink mushrooms that says "Bad data ;)" And, finally, Dreamteam!! I’m most proud so far of this achievement, mostly because it took quite some time to get it – and it was really fun in the process. Getting all the classes to level 70 in softcore mode and also having them beat Malthael black and blue is very satisfying. I’ve also confined myself in my playing. How so? Well, I have refrained myself from playing adventure mode (except for my very first char that made it through – she did three nephalem rifts and found no upgrade, except one Kadala swap of a pair of pants). None of my characters have twinked one another since I started RoS. No gifts via the shared stash. The only gems they’ve slotted are marquis gems that I have dozens of for each type. I haven’t crafted any items for them or enhanced items. So, in essence, the items they are wearing are what they’ve found while playing Act V, or in some cases, as they rushed through Act I-IV in order to get there. Here are the statistics for each and every character. Mind you, they include boosts from passives and follower skills, but I figure, it’s more honest to show the stats for the characters with the skills I’m using for them. If anything, it’s interesting to see how random the drops are in D3 RoS. Moreover, now you get to compare your stuff with an average player like me, and also, you get a sense of the RNG-workings behind it all. I list my lvl 70 softcore characters in order of their DPS, and after a fourth passive has been picked. All values are from before patch 2.04, and they include Paragon level boosts. Wizard: D: 354K T: 2.9M H: 9,471 Life: 306K Res: 946-1,111 Lvl 61+ item upgrades found playing lvl 60-70: y weapon lvl 70, set pants lvl 70, y gloves lvl 61, y bracers lvl 61, legend amulet lvl 70, y shoulders lvl 70 *** Wiz follower – Scoundrel (interestingly, unchanges since D3 vanilla – an extreme CC:er): D: 2.8K T: 306K Life: 203K Res: 84 ---------- DH: D: 225K T: 3.8M H: 8,161 Life: 350K Res: 618-862 Lvl 61+ item upgrades playing lvl 60-70: legend helm lvl 67, y chest lvl 66, y amulet lvl 66, legend shoulder lvl 67, y bracers lvl 61, y gauntlets lvl 61, legend belt lvl 65, legend ring lvl 70, y ring lvl 61, y pants lvl 66, set item weapon lvl 67, legend boots lvl 65 *** DH follower – Templar: D: 49K T: 1.2M Life: 295K Res: 215-260 Lvl 61+ item upgrades playing lvl 60-70: y focus lvl 70, y weapon lvl 66 ----- WD: D: 153K T: 3.7M H: 5,580 Life: 391K Res: 1,142-1,258 Lvl 61+ item upgrades found playing lvl 60-70: y belt lvl 69, legend ring lvl 61, y wpn lvl 70, y pants lvl 66, y bracers lvl 70 *** WD follower – Enchantress: D: 153K (She’s stronger than her mistress!) T: 1M Life: 300K Res: 732-818 Lvl 61+ item upgrades playing lvl 60-70: 2 legend rings lvl 61 & lvl 66, 1 legend weapon (a great Skorn) lvl 69, 1 y focus lvl 61 ----- Crusader: D: 144K T: 3.5M H: 12,400 Life: 281K Res: 692-961 Lvl 61+ item upgrades playing lvl 60-70: legend weapon lvl 65, y shield lvl 67, y boots lvl 61, y pants lvl 61, set item belt lvl 66, y bracers lvl 61, y gloves lvl 66, y shoulders lvl 61, y helm lvl 66 *** Crusader follower – Templar: D: 94K T: 1.9M Life: 440K Res: 148-283 Lvl 61+ item upgrades playing lvl 60-70: legendary focus lvl 61, legendary mace lvl 67, y amulet lvl 61, y ring lvl 61 ----- Barbarian: D: 141K T: 4.4M H: 29,500 Life: 399K Res: 484-733 Lvl 61+ item upgrades playing lvl 60-70: y wpn lvl 68, legend shield lvl 69, y pants lvl 61, legend belt lvl 66, y ring lvl 61, y gloves lvl 61, y bracers lvl 61, y chest lvl 66, y shoulders lvl 61 *** Barbarian follower – Enchantress (yet again, a follower matches her mistress): D: 137K T: 653K Life: 215K Res: 678-714 Lvl 61+ item upgrades playing lvl 60-70: legend weapon lvl 68, legend amulet lvl 70 ----- Monk: D: 140K T: 3.6M H: 16,000 Life: 283K Res: 706-794 Lvl 61+ item upgrades playing lvl 60-70: legend weapon lvl 69, legend weapon lvl 69, y pants lvl 61, y ring lvl 66, y ring lvl 61, y belt lvll 61, legend chest lvl 70, y gloves lvl 61, y bracers lvl 66, y shoulders lvl 61, y spirit stone lvl 70 *** Monk follower – Enchantress: D: 60K T: 330K Life: 177K Res: 217-323 Lvl 61+ item upgrades playing lvl 60-70: y weapon lvl 68 ----- Some thoughts and more info: My top two characters before RoS dropped were my Wizard, followed my WD. They were in a league of their own. My WD has kept an entire Zuni-set, and it has worked pretty well all the way up to lvl 70 on hard/expert Difficulty. However, my wizard has got quite a few new items, and she had no real sets to speak of, and now she can handle RoS T1, and even T2, but slowly. I still think she has been my luckiest character here. Furthermore, notice how consistent the dps of the other characters is? A ballpark number of 140K-155K. It seems the engine that dishes out items has a pretty stricked drop policy for weapons lvl 61-70. I’ve also had the honour of playing all the classes now, and I’ve been surprised at how fun they all are. In D3 vanilla, I almost detested DH. It felt like playing a tumbling superhero-acrobat with an Uzi. I usually used Hungering Arrow with Rapid Fire. However, now I happened to get a legendary belt at lvl 65 – Sash of Knives, with 30% increased damage for Fan of Knives. I picked the version where you get rid of the cooldown. Then, I picked a passive that made Fan of Knives even stronger. But that passive also increased grenades, so I picked a hatred-generating grenade rune, along with another passive, which made my DH into a grenadier. 10 minutes later I found som legendary chakram-boosting boots, so I picked a 2 minute-swirling chakram around my body, and before I knew it, I had created a weird build that loves to stand in the midst of battle and just blast, shred and dice the opponents. And it’s very easy to play. It has a nice flow to it, all items you pass break neatly, and the new VO for it is mature and brilliant. So, atm, DH is my 2nd favourite class. Who would have thought that a month ago? Here she is in all her glory! And here is my skill-setup, which makes for one very entertaining DH-build! Finally, here’s my current favourite class list: Wizard DH Monk Crusader (they’ve nerfed my build now, though) WD Barbarian (Still, a very nice class – better than expected in RoS)

I haven't crafted at all, so that's very good news!

Diablo 3 Reaper of Souls Patch 2.0.4 is now live on the servers. (I copied the patch info from d3inc): GeneralGreatly increased the survivability of pets summoned by several items and skills, including:Skycutter Maximus The Gidbinn Genzaniku Litany of the Undaunted Call of the Ancients Falling Sword – Rise Brothers All Town hubs have had the placement of the Nephalem Rift Obelisk, Orek, and Kadala adjusted to help reduce the chance of accidental clicking The Blacksmith’s Belongings box in Act I no longer has collision Classes Barbarian Barbarian Philosophy Many skills that spend Fury feel great, but when it comes time to generate Fury the single-target options don’t feel meaty compared to the generators that can hit more than one target at a time. As a result, we are increasing the potency of those single-target generators to be more competitive. Active Skills Bash Increased base damage from 170% to 215% weapon damage Skill Rune - ClobberIncreased chance to stun for 1.5 seconds from 30% to 35% Skill Rune - OnslaughtIncreased additional damage from 80% to 100% weapon damage Frenzy Increased base damage from 120% to 155% weapon damageWar Cry Bug Fix: Fixed an issue preventing the 5 seconds of paused Fury degeneration after casting War Cry from working.Weapon Throw Increased base damage from 150% to 185% weapon damage Skill Rune – Mighty ThrowIncreased damage from 210% to 270% weapon damage Skill Rune – Throwing HammerIncreased chance to stun from 30% to 40% Crusader Crusader Philosophy Many of the Crusader’s Wrath spenders are below where we would like, while Heaven’s Fury – Fires of Heaven was over-performing. We are toning back Fires of Heaven while increasing the potency of most of the other Crusader spenders to encourage greater build exploration. The single-target Wrath generator spells, Punish and Justice, don’t feel meaty compared to generators that can hit more than one target at a time. As a result, we are increasing the potency of Punish and Justice to be more competitive. We are making a few adjustments to improve Steed Charge. The cooldown and duration of the skill have both been reduced. Overall, this makes the total uptime for the skill slightly higher and, more importantly, you’ll be able to hit the button more often. We’re removing the ability for Steed Charge to break stuns, which allows us to focus on Steed Charge being primarily a mobility skill that can still get you out of root effects, such as Jailer. We still want Steed Charge to be useful in combat, so we’re also increasing the damage on damage-focused runes. General Crusaders now take 15% less damage from all sourcesActive Skills Akarat’s Champion Skill Rune – Rally Fixed an issue where Rally would not reduce the cooldown of Condemn Blessed Hammer Skill Rune – Burning WrathIncreased radius from 5 to 8 yards Increased pool damage from 95% to 150% weapon damage Skill Rune - Icebound HammerBug Fix: Fixed an issue where Icebound Hammer wasn’t chilling enemies Icebound Hammer no longer goes away when exploding Blessed Shield Increased base skill damage from 280% to 340% weapon damage Skill Rune – CombustIncreased damage from 105% to 270% weapon damage Skill Rune – Shattering ThrowIncreased damage from 50% to 333% weapon damage Known Issue: The tooltip for this skill rune does not reflect this change Fist of the Heavens Increased base skill’s impact damage from 250% to 340% weapon damage Increased base skill’s bolt damage from 210% to 340% weapon damage Skill Rune – Divine WellIncreased damage from 14% to 80% weapon damage Increased bolt zap search radius from 12 to 18 yards Skill Rune – FissureIncreased area of effect damage from 80% to 400% weapon damage over 5 seconds Increased Arc capsule damage radius from 3 to 6 yards Skill Rune – Heaven’s TempestBug Fix: Fixed an issue where Heaven’s Tempest was not moving around in its intended pattern Heaven’s Fury Skill Rune – Fires of HeavenReduced damage from 950% to 735% weapon damageJustice Increased base skill damage from 175% to 240% weapon damage Skill Rune – BurstIncreased damage from 25% to 30% weapon damage Skill Rune – Hammer of PursuitHammer of Pursuit now seeks targets more quickly after cast Increased damage from 200% to 300% weapon damage Phalanx Increased base skill damage from 295% to 380% weapon damage Skill Rune – BowmenIncreased damage from 85% to 160% weapon damage Skill Rune – BodyguardIncreased damage from 200% to 285% weapon damage Skill Rune – Shield ChargeIncreased damage from 75% to 180% weapon damage Skill Rune – StampedeIncreased Stun chance from 25% to 30% Punish Increased base skill damage from 200% to 270% weapon damage Skill Rune – RetaliateIncreased damage from 70% to 94% weapon damage Shield Bash Increased base skill damage from 325% to 370% weapon damage Skill Rune – CrumbleIncreased on death proc damage from 550% to 660% weapon damage Skill Rune – PoundIncreased damage from 550% to 740% weapon damage Increased bonus damage from shield Block Chance from 150% to 500% Steed Charge Reduced base skill cooldown from 25 to 16 seconds Reduced base skill duration from 2 to 1.5 seconds No longer breaks Stun Skill Rune – EnduranceReduced duration from 3 to 2 seconds Skill Rune – Ramming SpeedIncreased damage from 475% to 515% weapon damage Skill Rune – NightmareBug Fix: Fixed an issue where the Fire pools were not lasting their full intended duration Skill Rune – Draw and QuarterIncreased damage from 125% to 185% weapon damage Sweep Attack Increased base damage from 400% to 440% weapon damagePassive Skills Lord Commander Now reduces the cooldown of Steed Charge by 25% and Bombardment by 35% Demon Hunter Demon Hunter Philosophy Many skills that spend Hatred feel great, but when it comes time to generate Hatred the single-target options don’t feel meaty compared to the generators that can hit more than one target at a time. As a result, we are increasing the potency of a few single-target generators to be more competitive. Active Skills Evasive Fire Increased base middle shot damage from 160% to 200% weapon damage Increased base side shot damage from 80% to 100% weapon damage Skill Rune – Covering FireBug Fix: Fixed a bug causing the side shot damage to be lower than the amount listed Increased the damage of the side shots from 160% to 200% weapon damage Increased the range of the side shots from 50% to 80% to match the range of the middle shot Hungering Arrow Increased base damage from 125% to 155% weapon damageSentry Skill Rune – Guardian TurretThe damage reduction from this rune will now be reflected in the Toughness display Monk Untouched Monk Philosophy Monks are working as intended and Dashing Strike is perfectly balanced. There are no Monk changes at this time. Monks are currently in a fairly comfortable place, but as with all aspects of the game, we will continue to monitor them and make changes as needed. Witch Doctor Witch Doctor Philosophy The Witch Doctor was lacking good options for when they were low on Mana. A lack of attractive Signature spells results in builds primarily focused on sustaining Mana for long periods of time. We are increasing the potency of a few single-target Signature spells to be more competitive so that there are still aggressive options while waiting for Mana to regenerate. Haunt has received some changes to provide a low-Mana option as well as to emphasize options for a damage-over-time (DOT) play style. Active Skills Poison Dart Increased base skill damage from 155% + 40% to 185% + 40% weapon damage Skill Rune – SplintersIncreased damage from 65% to 105% weapon damage per dart Skill Rune – Spined DartIncreased amount of Mana returned from 25 to 50 Skill Rune – Flaming DartIncreased damage from 275% to 425% weapon damage over 4 seconds Damage over time from Flaming Dart can now stack with itself Skill Rune – Snake to the FaceStun chance increased from 25% to 33%-35% Corpse Spiders Increased base skill damage from 216% to 324% weapon damage Skill Rune – Leaping SpidersIncreased damage from 238% to 383% weapon damage Skill Rune – Blazing SpidersIncreased damage from 259% to 400% weapon damage Firebomb Skill Rune – PyrogeistIncreased damage from 560% to 880% weapon damageHaunt Reduced Mana cost from 200 to 50 Increased base skill damage from 1465% over 6 seconds to 4000% over 12 seconds Wizard Wizard Philosophy Two skills on the Wizard, Arcane Orb – Frozen Orb and Electrocute, have bugs with their implementation. Unfortunately, these bug fixes do have the side effect of weakening these skills. Ultimately, this brings these skills back in line with other Wizard skills, which is why we chose to implement these fixes. Teleport is receiving some changes to allow it to work in more situations. The range is being increased overall for each cast of Teleport. As a result, the Wormhole rune is receiving a reduction in the number of successive casts that can be completed. Previously, you could cover 140 yards in 4 casts and now you can cover 150 yards in 3 casts. Overall, this is a buff. Active Skills Arcane Orb Skill Rune – Frozen OrbBug Fix: Fixed an issue where Frozen Orb was chilling for longer than intended Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where the Frozen Orb bonus damage radius was hitting a larger area than intended Electrocute Skill Rune – Surge of PowerReduced proc scalar from 0.25 to 0.166Teleport Increased range from 35 to 50 yards Skill Rune – WormholeReduced maximum allowed teleports from 4 to 3 Passive Skills Arcane Dynamo Bug Fix: Arcane Dynamo now properly grants bonus damage to channeled spellsProdigy Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where Electrocute was granting double the intended amount of Arcane Power when used with Prodigy Adventure ModeNephalem Rifts Nephalem Obelisks now have a short cast time before they activate Adjusted the potential layouts for Sewer and Aqueduct style dungeons to include more randomized options CraftingLevel 70 crafted sets no longer require Flawless Royal gems and instead now require Marquise gems The drop rate of unique Legendary crafting materials has been significantly increased This matches the drop rate of Death’s Breaths Death’s Breaths are no longer required for level 61-70 Rare crafting recipes Bug Fixes Legendary crafted shields now provide the correct amount of Block Value for their level ItemsThe treasure from Resplendent Chests has been improved to feel more resplendent Malthael is now much more afraid, and will more consistently drop the Reaper’s Fear Legendary crafting material Bug Fixes Legendary Follower relics will no longer roll incorrect Primary stats Gloves of Worship no longer grant 60 minute buffs for Empowered or Fleeting Shrines MonstersDamage from ghosts with the Soul Siphon ability has been reducedPoison Enchanted: Duration of each Poison Enchanted globule reduced from 8 to 6 seconds Maximum number of Poison Enchanted globules has been reduced from 4 to 3 per cast Poison Enchanted is now triggered with more variation in timing from Champion packs The “Kill Malthael” quest is now required to be completed before Malthael will drop loot QuestsThe Crazy Climber event now requires players to kill the monsters spawned during the event to complete The Jar of Souls event now spawns additional monsters in Torment I and higher The Matriarch’s Bones event now spawns additional monsters in Torment I and higher In Campaign Mode, Manglemaw now only drops loot and gives XP before the player progresses to the Chancellor’s Tomb quest User InterfaceBug Fixes Fixed an issue where game objects were prioritized over chat links in the chat window Fixed an issue where players were sometimes unable to click on chat links at the bottom of the chat window

I don't like rolling half the assorted collection of dice out there! d4s, d6s, d8s - they roll pretty much like crap. My favourite will always be d20. I even have a few metal ones that I still fondle from time to time. d100s are literally balls and abominations to be scourged! d12 is arguably the most beautiful die, especially transparent emerald ones. When Guido Henkel suddenly plopped another KS function, where you somehow get to roll dice while you play a computer game, I got very excited. Unfortunately, Deathfire crashed and burned.

I know I'm in the minority here, but I enjoyed the pathfinding of the IE games. Sure, my characters got a bit stuck here and there, but nothing gamebreaking. I honestly loved how they trickled along, almost like a twitchy fluid across my screen. I even love the sound effects for them walking and advancing. It's one of my most intense memories of the IE games, even if that just sounds utterly bizarre!

Hmm. I'm sure they do share them, just like softcore characters do. I have a number of hardcore characters that have access to one and the same stash, as well as to the same crafters.

Hiro: That HC monk looks mean! And yes, those weapos with really low lvl reqs are godsends! Marelooke: Gratz! I agree that Malthael is pretty much tougher than everything else in Act V.

I agree. This is where the US really shines like a beacon in a world of ignorance! Please report back for us unfortunate ones!

Undecaf: Heretic or not, that sounds really promising for WL2!

I just started a new thread, as this draws to a close, and expanded it, so now it includes the option of dropping heretic opinions on RPG systems and mechanics as well. Have fun! Here's a link: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/66006-drop-your-heretic-thoughts-on-crpgs-and-rpg-systems-here/

As my first thread is nearing the end of its life-cycle, I decided most haughtily to start a new one, but this time I've expanded it a bit, since the at the end of that thread, an interesting influx of blasphemous opinion on RPG systems emerged, such as this list of opinions on the Wisdom attribute in D&D: I sure hope so! Now, guys, spill your hearts out, and enjoy the therapeutic cleansing that comes with it!

Fan Art Collecting Tank -> Fart Collecting Tank ->Green Home Heating Sorry guys. Couldn't resist. Keep bringing on all the fantastic art!

A crowd gathers at Kanamara Matsuri - the mega dong-festival.

But, but... You get to name a star! Disclaimer: There are billions of them just in the Milky Way.

Hehe! He was asking for romance, and it is well known that lovey dovey stuff also entails more explicit behaviour. Now I'm really curious about this Mega Dong Eon. In a CRPG, I mean... *cough* If I saw a neon sign that says "MEGA DONG EON" in some shabby district, I would scurry by, without as much as a glance.

I've always wanted to try out Galactic Civilizations, and since a new instalment is coming up soon, you have just given me one more good reason to try it out. I must say, though, as someone used to Fighting Fantasy-books and early official D&D scenarios, where sucker punches are fairly common, that I somehow sadistically enjoy them a lot - of course, as long as replaying is allowed. It could easily get to be very abrupt endings in all those adventures, so I guess "save-scumming" has been there all along, even before CRPGs, and I'm oddly enough used to that meta-gamey feature. Regardless, those almost unfair and leftfield scenarios and scenes are often enjoyable in their own cruel right. Just my two cents.

Did I just read "mega dong"?

Prometheus: Thanks for posting that. I had missed that summary of Josh's, I guess. From what I can see, it looks very promising and RPG-worthy. Now, to decide if I want those mechanical hints on or off in the dialogue trees. Choices, choices...

MrBrown, now I know why you got that Enchant All Items cheevo the other day! :D Thanks for the pro-tip and all this extra info about resistances. You seem to be in the know ever so often! I'm still just levelling up all my chars to lvl 70. Then I will start exploring adventure mode and hunt for better gear.

I've read quite a few of Oby's posts, and definitely agree. He's no Russian. Just the semantics of his fake Russian spelling mistakes give him away. They reek of "Russian as portrayed in American movies". In all likelihood, he's a pretty clever middle-aged American guy with a knack for long-standing forum roleplaying, a class-act troll, if you will, stepping it all up three leagues. And he seems good at it too, but almost nothing gives him away as Russian. Believe me, I have a handful of Russian friends, and Polish ones, actually. Well, he doesn't fit the bill at all.

Hehe, you got me there! You see, back in the day, when playing the IE games, I played them very slowly and methodically (while later, in games like NWN1 & 2, I rarely used pause at all). I buffed very systematically and dished it out with variation. It was sometimes boring as hell, but I did. My hours invested in BG 1 & 2 are hundreds and hundreds. So let me dispel that doubt. However, I don't expect people to play that way. I just expect them to be wary and expect dangerous situations when they enter the Underdark. Mind you, my relative success in playing that kind of CRPGs is also reliant on my having been a D&D buff for decades, so my meta-knowledge is absurdly huge. I enter those games with an enormous advantage, and that is unfair all by itself. That's why I look forward to PE being new in all respects - setting-wise, rule-wise, tactics-wise.

No, he wasn't! He was the antagonist. Sorry about that.

Gladly. However, I'll do it in my own quirky and slightly spoilerish way: In NWN2 OC the King of Shadows was the protagonist. After you defeat him, and your party apparently dies, you yourself seem to have succumb to death, since you awake in a barrow at the very start of MotB. This expansion is all about you, the shard-bearer, and the curse that has afflicted you and made you into what you are. All the characters, including any major beings and gods, are extremely well-written and woven into the plot of the expansion. You also get to influence their attitude towards you. Also, they are pretty odd and fantastic in their own rights. The expansion has atmosphere in spades and handle the various D&D planes like it was nothing (Guess which guys who are responsible for making Torment: Tides of Numenera!). The eastern lands you get to visit are unique and very well researched by the writers. Everything in it is a treat, perhaps except a certain spirit meter.

Marelooke: Farm till lvl 70, you won't regret it. My first char that made it to lvl 70, my wizard, got a very nice lvl 70 amulet, so it's worth it!

Interesting questions! Well, since I loved what MotB did for the NWN2 OC, I'd prefer a new and "exotic" set of locations, where I get to take my medium-level party. A lobby is fine. Continuity storywise is of course lovely, but it needn't be extensive or deep, as long as the story explains it all. I want to be surprised and confused. Then I get to unravel the mysteries of the new cultural contexts and the new creepy-crawlies. Obsidian also did well with SoZ as far as the steamy jungles go, with yuan-tis and dinosaurs. However, the return to the lands of the OC wasn't that exciting to be honest, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.