Gfted1

I found the Inquisitor to be pretty easy. Throw a Static Shield on Val Khem and send him in to tank while you lightning everyones face off. Take the skill that adds 20% to your Static Shield and he can survive the bosses no problem, just keep applying it to him whenever it falls off.

Reached level 13 with my Monk (the highest you can go in beta) and I have to admit Im really surprised how much I like it. See, Im a ranged kinda guy. I dont like playing melee as I usually find it too hectic but the Monk is just so fun to play. At level 13 you unlock the Exploding Palm skill and hilarity ensues. Its basically a DoT (bleed damage) but if the target dies while under the effects of the Exploding Palm it explodes into a pile of gore. Its awesome. Ive also got my blacksmith trained up to Artisan and its pretty cool seeing the stuff you can craft. With only Barbarian and Demon Hunter left I suppose Ill try the Demon Hunter next. Im kinda bummed that all this effort will be wiped out once the game goes live.

Just had a bit of MP and its fun. No tether between players and all loot is individual to the players so you dont have to compete for what drops. The enemies actually scale up and down in numbers and strength depending on how many people are currently in the party. You continue to earn experience and level up, which I did not know, so Im looking forward to taking my level 10 toons higher.

Finished Witch Doctor and have moved on to Monk. Im really enjoying how differently each one plays. Naturally the Monk is a melee brawler and I currently have my Primary set to a punch and my Secondary set to a roundhouse kick. By level seven you will have one Rune for each your Primary and Secondary and I have selected for my Primary a Rune that instantly teleports you to your target and delivers an electrified punch and for my Secondary it turns my roundhouse into a flaming roundhouse. My new favorite tactic is to target one of the mooks in the middle of a crowd, teleport in and punch his eye, then bust out a flaming roundhouse to get all the mooks around him. Its great fun. I may have giggled.

Are the dungeons randomly generated? Cant decide if my mind is playing tricks.

Hmm, MP seems functional. Jumping in a game with a Witch Doctor now.

The Normal difficulty is a joke. I never fell below half health. Map size and linearity are directly comparable to Torchlight. Customization is a little limited in the beginning but by the endgame you will have a choices from: 4 Primary Skills 4 Secondary Skills 5 Runes for each Primary and Secondary 4 Defensive Skills 5 Force Skills 5 Runes for each Defensive and Force Skill 3 Passive Skills By beta end I never even got to peek at Conjuration or Mastery skills so I cant comment on those. As you can see, I dont think there will be an issue with choices/builds. You can choose the sex of your toon but you cannot customize the look. Armor and weapons will change the look but you cant adjust the physical properties of your toon.

i7 2.67 GHz 9 GB RAM ATI 5850 The dungeons are open and fairy large. Of course all paths lead to the same end but theres different ways to get there. The quests I spoke about above are an example. If you beeline through one of the dungeon levels you can overlook a hall that leads to a ghost that offers you a quest. When out in the open land, if you just stick to the path you will miss a random dead body that turns out to be the Blacksmiths apprentice. When you meet the Blacksmith it actually triggers an additional conversation where you let him know hes dead.

Ok, I just finished playing the wizard as far as you can (the first major boss) and its a lot of fun. I killed everything that moved and destroyed everything that can be destroyed and was at level 10 at the end. Exploring every inch of the map produced two quests which could be overlooked if you just stuck to the main path. Exploration has its benefits. Ill dive right into the specifics: Graphics: I have everything turned up to 11 and its just adequate, comparable to Torchlight. Difficulty: Im playing on Normal and never sniffed death. I recommend Hard or higher. POWAHS: You start with one Primary (mapped to l-click) and one Secondary (mapped to r-click). I pretty much stuck with Ground Shock (AoE) and a direct damage freeze ray spell that you could hold down and spray like a fire hose or just tap rapid fire. At level 6 you start unlocking Runes which are powerups to the existing Primary and Secondary abilities. For example, the first spell you start with as a Wizard is Magic Missle and the first Rune you unlock will make the missle do more damage. I cant remember exactly but around level 6 you start unlocking Defensive Skills (mapped to #1 key) and the abilities I unlocked were Frost Nova (AoE w/ freeze in place) and Diamond Skin which makes you completely invulnerable for a short time. The next ablitiy learned around level 8 is Force Skills (mapped to #2 key) and my only choice was Wave of Force which is a 360 degree pushback of all enemies. Both the Defensive and Force Skills can also be Runed but you dont unlock it before the beta ends. At level 10 you unlock your first Passive skill. The first two choices that unlock for Wizard are Blur (-20% melee damage) and another that grants +20 mana when you run over a health globe. That may read as being complicated but in practice is very fluid. Combat: As expected. Every click right or left produces an attack. You can hold down the Shift key which will root you and prevent you from accidentally moving when you are trying to attack. Very useful key. NPC's: Every one is voiced. Fortunately it doesnt zoom in on a talking face but instead just presents a small picture and you hear them talking. The Blacksmith can actually be improved as you go and its there that you can also train yourself to make weapons and armor. You start out with a few patterns and can get more by "training" yourself for 2k gold a pop. To craft an item you need to have Subtle Essences which you get by scrapping magical gear youve picked up along the way. Naturally you can only scrap an item at the blacksmith. Each item costs X amount of Essences to craft. Loot: Interesting and not overly numerous (IMO, Torchlight actually had too much loot to lug around). Once picked up, hovering over it will compare to what you currently have equipped. Equipping an item shows on your toon and magical weapons have a cool visual effect. Next up, the fearsome Witch Doctor. If anyone has any questions, fire away.

Installing now. WooHoo!

Just got an invitation to the beta. Guess I know what Ill be doing this weekend.

Is there nothing that duct tape cant fix?

All excellent reasons. Since 99% of my gaming is online I guess Im just used to it. It never crossed my mind as a negative.

Ive seen a few of you mention the online requirement as being a deal breaker. Is that due to you having a monthly bandwidth limit or are you just fighting "the man"?

Just a personal preference but I dont like game mechanics that force me into do X in X time or DIE. Food / water bars, spirit meters, etc... I just dont need the pressure.

Looks interesting for $15 but a food bar?

I would be interested in some co-op after I finish the SP game. Due to the six hour time difference I may only be available on weekends though.

IIRC, HK-47 is in one of the instances and hes hard as hell to kill.

^That article is 16 months old.

Game Of Thrones Picked Up For Season 3

Im actually looking forward to having it on my iPad.

Thanks for the update tarna, glad to see you are managing. Im not a huge fan of lobster either. Its "ok" but I much prefer king crab.

Since your trainer is a sprinter I assume you are focusing on running. Thats a really excellent way to drop weight so you should see results beginning very soon. My dog and I are both getting a bit round about the middle so the last few weeks Ive started taking her on walks around the block. One lap around is exactly a half a mile so we go twice. In a few weeks I hope to get both of us up to trotting speed.

I played a Sith Inquisitor and it was worth the ride. C & C is pretty much an illusion used to change your physical appearance but you do need to focus on being "evil" or "good" to get the best gear respectively. Theres no way to break the game or affect an outcome as far as I saw. The same companions will join you regardless of your actions or how you treat them specifically. The calss story is "ok" but you will need the grindy parts of an MMO to get to the end.