Main Changes for Diablo 3 Patch 1.0.5 – What to Look forward to in D3?

Sup Nerds! Here are some cool changes coming to the next Diablo Patch – 1.0.5

1. INFERNAL MACHINE! – The infernal machine is a crafting recipe much like uber Tristam in Diablo 2.  You farm the parts(and the pattern once) and then craft the item.  You then can go kill the boss and he will drop a special legendary ring! Puzzle ring! I will have walk through on this soon, step by step in detail.

2. Monster Power! – Monster power now lets you choose how hard you want your monsters to be.  Monster power ZERO is actually -25% of the current monsters health, and then it scales up VERY high from 1-10.  The main thing is health increase, so a normal 30 second rare to kill in act 3 on monster power level 0, will now take lets say 5x as long on monster power 5+ (example).   In addition to the increases health and slight damage increase, once you go to monster power level 1, all monsters are ilvl 63(same as act 3).  So you can actually choose to farm any act and your result will be the same.  You also gain increased magic find and gold find the high you increase the monster power level.  You can find more information about this from the Monster Power chart that is listed on the site, if you are unable to find it just search for monster power at the top search box.

3. Legendary and Set items will have their drop rate doubled in relation to the drop rate now.

4. Inferno monsters are taking another Nerf.  I personally am happy for this, but in all reality it isn’t a huge Nerf because you can use monster power levels to make it hard than it was originally.

 

That is about all of the major changes.  I am not going to list the class changes as this isn’t a full 1.0.5 patch notes post.  If you are wondering when 1.0.5 will be released, I would put my money on it coming out this Tuesday, or the next!

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Things to do in Diablo 3 When Bored of Grinding Inferno for Loot

It’s easy to forget what is fun in a game, and in this case Diablo3 .

Often times people get so caught up in progression it turns into a job, and becomes a repetitive chore to just play. So here are my suggestion to you when you are bored doing whatever it is that you are doing, which my guess would be farming Inferno, act 1, 2, and if you are lucky, 3.

1. If you are playing with your friends, or helping them level, buy some cheap legendaries, or good/bad yellows, and drop them on the ground when you kill a boss or elite champion pack. Keep doing this and they will probably start thinking they are the luckiest person in the world.

2.  Play Hardcore mode! Hardcore mode in Diablo 3 is almost a different game, sorta. It adds more challenge, a purpose, there is no real money auction house, so the gold auction house is better and more stable, plus gold is worth more.

3. Farm for Achievements!  This is probably one of the best things to do in my nerdy opinion.  There are tons of fun things to conquer if you are going for achievement points.  It will give new life to the game, at least until you finish all the easy/semi easy ones.  This is the only thing that kept me playing World of Warcraft in my later days.

4. Make/LVL a new character to 60.

5. Try funny builds

6. If you are rich, buy a cheap gear set, lets say 500k or 1million max, and see how far you can progress in inferno with it

Wizard Gear and Build Guide for Diablo 3 – Patch 1.03 and Beyond

Wizard Gear and Build Guide for Diablo 3 – Patch 1.03 and Beyond

INTRODUCTION

This guide is intended only to cover the basics of the wizard class in inferno; i.e. what the popular builds are and how to gear your wizard in a general sense. A friend of mine just hit 60 on his wizard and asked me to write something up for him so I decided to make it into this post in case anybody else is interested. It’s a general guide; if I don’t mention your build or your strategy it doesn’t mean I think it sucks, I’m just posting general information on what I perceive to be the popular builds and strategies. The guide is geared towards preparing for and clearing act3/4 inferno, and eventually farming act 3.

BUILDS

1) BLIZZARD KITING BUILDS

Example: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#blROQS!Ydf!bbbYZZ

Strategy:

This build’s strength comes from the use of two combos: Blizzard’s strong 60% slow + Venom Hydra’s stacking DOT pools, and Teleport + Illusionist. To play this build you want to engage from max distance (preferably the very edge of the screen) by dropping a hydra about halfway between you and the mobs and then dropping a blizzard on top of them and then a line of blizzards between you and them. This way the mobs will walk through your blizzard trail while slowed and take continuous damage from both the blizzard and the venom hydra. When possible, you spam your signature spell to add damage. Continue this while kiting. When/if the mobs eventually get to you, you take a hit (which is reduced to 35% of your HP by force armor) and then teleport away. Since you have illusionist, you can do this every time you take a hit. For sustainability in the longish fights vs. elites you need some form of healing – life regen/sec is the most effective in combination with force armor.

This is the build I used to clear inferno and after trying numerous other builds its what I’ve come back to and currently use to farm act 3. A lot of people find it boring but its very efficient. Since 1.0.3 I have not had to skip a single elite pack in act 3 while farming and I generally die less than once an hour farming act 3.

Pros/Cons:

+Least gear dependant of all the builds, great for new 60 wizards, but still scales well

+Extremely safe due to permanent Blizzard slow + Illusionist/Teleport

+Great AOE damage from Blizzard + Venom Hydra + Piercing Orb

-Some people find it boring

-You have to kite a lot, you can’t stand and tank like the prismatic armor builds

-Relies somewhat on skillful play to avoid taking hits

Choices/Variants:

Signature Spell – I like Piercing Orb for better AOE damage and for shielding/invulnerable minion packs, but some people prefer Magic Missile – Seeker.

Blizzard – Stark Winter is a viable alternative to Snowbound.

Teleport – Some people prefer Fracture to Wormhole, both are fine.

4th Skill – I recommend Force Weapon at lower gear levels, but once you get enough DPS you can switch to Diamond Skin, or if you find yourself dying too much. Some people think Familiar – Sparkflint is better than Force Weapon. Some people like Mirror Images or Frost Nova here too, but I don’t think they are as strong.

2) CRITICAL MASS BUILDS

Example: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#VSYXhj!gWY!YZcbcZ

Strategy:

These builds are based primarily on utilizing high crit rate and the Critical Mass passive to constantly refresh cooldowns such as Frost Nova and Diamond Skin. Some use Prismatic Armor instead of Force Armor and build fairly tanky so that they can stand in melee range. They rely either on Spectral Blades or Energy Twister – Wicked Wind to trigger Critical Mass as much as possible. The Energy Twister variants are probably more gear dependant because you will need AP on Crit gear in order to not run out of AP, but the Spectral Blades variants probably require more defensive/resistance gear. These are the builds I have the least experience with, so I would refer people to http://www.windupwizard.com/ for more specifics on what’s probably the most popular variant of the build.

Pros/Cons:

+Much less kiting required, can often stand still and spam abilities

+Some consider it more fun/exciting, possibly more fast paced depending on the variant

+Able to put out massive dps – see the video of the Belial kill on the link above

-More gear dependant than the force armor builds

-Not nearly as safe as the blizzard/vhydra build since you are in melee range and don’t have teleport

-Requires careful play to make sure the combo doesn’t “fizzle out”

Choices/Variants:

Spectral Blades vs. Wicked Wind Prismatic Armor + Tanky gear vs foregoing that and relying on Diamond Skin + Frost Nova spam. Lots of variance in the damaging abilities used – some use meteor, some explosive blast.

3) ARCANE ORB BUILDS

Example: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#cRXOQS!YdU!YbaYZZ

Strategy:

These builds are kiting builds similar to the Blizzard build above, but replace Blizzard with Arcane Orb + Temporal Flux for the slow. At higher gear levels it’s possible to drop Temporal Flux altogether due to the damage output of Arcane Orb. The basic strategy is similar to the Blizzard build above; engage from max range, drop Hydra and spam Arcane Orb while kiting. When you get caught, you rely on Illusionist + Teleport to get away.

Pros/Cons:

+Less gear dependant than the Critical Mass or Archon builds

+High burst damage from hard hitting Arcane Orbs

+Fairly safe kiting build

-Not as safe as the Blizzard build since you are using a weaker/less reliable slow

-More gear dependant than the Blizzard build

-Relies on kiting, which some find boring

Choices/Variants:

Orb – Tap the Source is the most popular rune for Arcane Orb, but some people use Obliterate or Celestial Orb. To use these you probably need to add a signature spell, likely Magic Missile – Seeker.

Hydra – Arcane Hydra can be used instead of Venom Hydra to make the build safer by adding a more reliable slow. It is less damage, but not tons less and is perfectly viable/safer. Probably better at lower gear levels.

Teleport – Again, some prefer Fracture to Wormhole.

3rd and 4th Skills – Any combination of Diamond Skin / Force Weapon / Familiar – Sparkflint / Frost Nova / Mirror Images is fine.

Passives – At higher gear levels you can drop Temporal Flux for something else.

4) ARCHON BUILDS

Example: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#VmjOQS!Ybg!YcacZZ

Strategy:

These builds revolve around being in Archon the most time possible and using it to quickly melt everything. They are the most gear dependant, but probably also the most efficient at the highest levels of gear. Your buffs such as Energy Armor, Force Weapon and Familiar persist into Archon form, which itself also adds 40% resists/armor. The goal is to buff your dps as high as possible, pop archon, and maintain it by killing tons of mobs to get a bonus to the duration from each kill. Once Archon ends your goal is to refresh it as quickly as possible so that you can do it again. Actually killing things with Archon is self-explanatory, just hold down right click and point at the mobs. Don’t forget that you likely don’t have an escape or CC spell though and will quickly die if you allow anything to actually get to you and hit you.

Pros/Cons:

+Insane speed/efficiency at high gear levels

+Hilariously fun to melt entire screens of enemies in 1-2 seconds and champ packs in 5-10 seconds

+Great AOE damage, great single target damage, trivializes certain boss fights

-Most gear dependant build

-Not very safe while in Archon form due to no escape spell or CC

-Weak/vulnerable when Archon is on cooldown

Choices/Variants:

Archon Rune – I think Improved Archon, Teleport or Pure Power are the best. Some people use Slow Time.

What you do when you aren’t in Archon is up for debate. Some people take Arcane Orb and try to farm or at least clear white mobs with that while Archon is down. Another strategy (the one in the build linked above) is to take Critical Mass and either Wicked Wind or Spectral Blades to try to refresh Archon as quickly as possible. I prefer the latter.

GEARING YOUR WIZARD FOR INFERNO

Tools: The Wizard DPS spreadsheet, the best way to compare gear and decide on potential DPS upgrades: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuCuIwwOof50dGpVRXhOYTZHNUJ3R1dWTmdNdS1TeWc#gid=1

The EHP calculator, an essential tool if you’re using force armor and very useful regardless: http://rubensayshi.github.com/d3-ehp-calculator/#intro

The maximum values of stats which can appear on gear of different slots: http://www.d3rmt.com/guides/diablo-3-item-stat-maximum-values/

Offense – Your primary offensive stats are int, crit chance, crit damage, attack speed and bonus damage, and not necessarily in that order. The relative value of all of these stats depends entirely on how much of them you already have, and the only good way to figure it out for you individually is with the DPS spreadsheet I linked above. Just as an example, for me with my current gear my equivalencies are as follows: 1% crit = 27.28 int, 1% crit damage = 4.47 int, 1% IAS = 22.29 int, and 1 average bonus damage = 2.52 int. Bonus damage is an often overlooked damage stat that can be very valuable and can often be found on jewelry for less cost than its worth because people overlook it. Stacking crit + crit damage is really the only way to get very high dps.

2h vs 1h + source is an endless debate, but after trying both extensively I prefer 1h + source, mostly because you can get crit chance on the offhand which I think at higher gear levels pushes 1H+OH over any 2h. If you are just starting out in inferno a good 2h may be cheaper and a better way to go initially.

Defense – Your primary defensive stats are vit, % life, bonus armor (which includes strength), resistances (which includes intellect), life regen, dexterity (everybody should have at least 100), movement speed (which includes IAS), and for some builds life on hit. Which of these stats and how much of them you want depends very much on whether you are using force armor or prismatic armor, which I’ll address more below.

Gearing by slot:

As you’ll have noticed from the link above, various different stats can appear or can not appear on different slots, and in different amounts. That means there is a strategy for which stats you want to look for on each slot. Generally, the slots you should focus on for offensive stats are your jewelry, helm, bracers, gloves, weapon and offhand, while you should focus on defensive stats on your shoulders, chest, legs, belt, and boots because, except for legendaries, those slots can’t spawn the good dps stats. Every slot should have some amount of int.

DPS gear:

Helm – You want the highest int and crit chance you can afford. A socket is nice, but not necessary and sometimes artifically inflates the price. Use a calculator to compare your gain from the % life on the socket to what you can get on an unsocketed helm in terms of vit and % life. This is one of the two slots (gloves are the other) that can spawn particularly high int, so this is a relatively cheap place to get a lot of it.

Gloves – You really want int, crit chance and crit damage all on this item. This slot, along with the amulet and the weapon, is the best place to look for crit damage. These three slots (gloves/ammy/weapon) are likely going to be both the most expensive and the most worth spending on. Again, one of the two slots that can spawn especially high int.

Bracers – Again you want int and crit chance here. There are a lot of these on the market, probably due to crafting, so this is a slot you can get a very good value on.

Amulet – Similar to the gloves, but more expensive. Int, crit chance and crit damage are all mandatory. Bonus damage is a nice plus as well, and can lead to you getting more of a bang for buck on this slot. For example, an amulet with +15-25 damage adds 20 average bonus damage, which for me would equate to an additional 50 int in terms of dps. IAS would be great but unless you are super rich you aren’t getting all of that on one amulet.

Rings – Crit chance and crit damage both spawn on this item, but the crit damage modifier on rings is fairly low and adds a ton to the cost of the item. Its often a better idea to skip it in favor of getting more crit chance, some bonus damage, or some IAS.

Weapon – If you’re just starting out this is going to be one of your biggest purchases, and is also your biggest opportunity to both get a ton of value or to vastly overspend. Basically, weapon DPS is highly overvalued by a lot of people, and the stats on the weapons are undervalued, although that is becoming less true as more people are figuring this out. For example, with my current gear I could replace my 789 dps weapon (with 126 int, 65% crit damage and a socket with a 90% crit damage gem) with a 1450 dps blue weapon with no stats and I would lose dps. A 1500 dps blue weapon with no stats would very slightly raise my dps. Obviously such weapons don’t even exist. The point is to use the spreadsheet when you make this purchase and actually figure out which weapons are best before you overspend for listed dps. Another thing is that weapon speed on a 1h matters when you are using an offhand and have bonus damage from gear, so you are generally going to want to buy either a sword, wand, or dagger. The 1.3 speed 1h axe can be acceptable too if it has good enough stats, but a 1.2 speed mace or spear needs much higher stats to be better so they probably won’t be cost efficient for you.

Offhand – Bonus damage is king on this item. Here’s a thread explaining some of the math on why that is: http://www.reddit.com/r/Diablo3Strategy/comments/wfeii/wizwd_why_damage_is_king_on_offhands_and_why_you/ Basically at a minimum you want the numbers on the offhand to add up to 400, for a total of 200 bonus damage, bare minimum. Don’t buy anything less than that. 450 total is better and what you’ll want eventually, and 500 total is near perfect. The biggest stat to look for on this item is crit chance. You really want a source with the highest bonus damage and crit chance that you can afford.

Defense gear:

Shoulders – Int/vit/resists/life regen. Nothing special here, probably the most boring slot for wizards. I wore a blue archon spaulders with 170 int / a bunch of vit for the longest time, because there just isn’t anything special here. Probably best to pick up something like that if you’re on a budget. Good slot to get your resists as they are usually cheaper here than on chest/pants.

Chest – One of the two slots that can spawn a particularly high vit, the other being the pants. Also the slot that can spawn the most life regen. If you’re using a force armor build you want life regen here. Also, its almost always best to get one with 3 sockets.

Belt – Sort of like the shoulders, nothing really special here. It can spawn high strength so sometimes that’s a good find as strength = armor and you get 65% more of it from energy armor. Like shoulders, a good slot to get your resists as they are usually cheaper than on chest/pants.

Legs – Another slot to get your vit from. Get one with 2 sockets, it’s almost always better.

Boots – 11%+ movement speed is mandatory, and 12% is better. This is a slot that can spawn high dex so it’s a good place to make sure you’re over 100. Another good spot to grab resists potentially.

Force Armor vs. Prismatic armor builds:

If you’re going for prismatic armor you’re going to need a lot more EHP and resistances. If that’s the case, there really isn’t much to say other than just get as much as you can afford. However, for force armor its much more tricky.

Force armor reduces any hit to 35% of your HP, but it cannot reduce the hit by more than 100% of your HP. Therefore, Force Armor does one of four things when you get hit: A) The hit is for less than 35% of your HP. Force Armor does nothing. B) The hit is for more than 35% of your HP but less than 135% of your HP. The hit is reduced to 35% of your HP. C) The hit is for more than 135% of your HP but less than 199% of your HP. The hit is reduced by 100% of your HP and you live with a varying amount of life left depending on how hard the hit was. D) The hit is for more than 199% of your HP. Since Force Armor can only reduce it by 100% of your HP, you die.

I wrote two large posts about this in the past, one pre-1.0.3 and an update after 1.0.3. You can find them here: http://www.reddit.com/r/Diablo/comments/ukkm9/wizard_how_to_get_the_most_efficient_use_out_of/ and here: http://www.diablofans.com/topic/54852-update-gearing-for-the-most-efficient-use-of-force-armor/page__p__951032#entry951032

The short story is that for Act 3 inferno you want 117.5k EHP in order to not take more than 35% of your life from any hit. This is fairly easy to obtain. Also, fire and physical are the most common sources of damage so you can fudge a little bit by getting those to 117.5k EHP while shorting the others a little.

Obviously, there are various ways to get to 117.5k EHP, because vit, % life, resistances and armor all contribute. However, the optimal way to do it is by raising resistances and armor as much as possible while reducing vit and % life. You will still need a good bit of HP, probably at least 20k, but if you can get to 117.5k EHP while keeping your life low your survivability will increase dramatically because you will get a much larger benefit from heals. This makes the life regen stat very strong. If you can get to 117.5k EHP with 20k hp, then 1k of life regen will full heal you in 20 seconds and heal a hit that is absorbed by force armor in 7 seconds.

AP on Crit:

This stat is important for some builds and only appears on Wizard Hats, Sources, and Wands. It’s expensive on good items and part of what makes the critical mass and arcane orb builds more gear dependant.

ABOUT ME – Full Credit for Guide goes to Prime_Meridian (from Reddit)

I’ve played a wizard as my main character since release. I cleared inferno on 6/7/12, pre-patch: http://imgur.com/4bbB6

My current stats in my farming gear: http://imgur.com/LKlTJ http://imgur.com/jAP3G

My current gear: http://imgur.com/vGN4S

The build I’m using in the previous screenshots: http://imgur.com/iJaPi

My follower for Act 3 soloing: http://imgur.com/mzUNa http://imgur.com/s0l9M

 

Best Farming Spot in Act 1 Inferno Diablo 3

I have been testing different runs and the most efficient groups of elites to kill for the highest drop rate of rares in inferno act 1, and this is what I have come up with.

I stick to this run like Velcro because it is so consistent with the rare and blue mob spawns.

Waypoint 1 –

Northern Highlands -> run west to the border and north and south… look for the watch tower. If the watchtower doesn’t spawn, remake the game. If it doesn’t spawn elites, remake the game (sometimes it glitches out). There’s 2-5 packs here. TP after clearing the watchtower.

Waypoint 2 –

Cathedral Gardens Level 3 -> always an elite pack here. You sometime have to run backwards. TP after killing him.

Waypoint 3 –

Cemetery -> clear the first elite out of every dungeon. JUST THE FIRST. After the first one, TP back and take the way-point again… it’s not worth looking for a non-guaranteed elite.

Waypoint 4 –

Leoric’s Manor -> run backwards, there’s a 25% or so chance there’s an elite IN the manor, but there’s a guaranteed elite in Leoric’s Manor Courtyard.

Waypoint 5 –

Festering Woods -> guaranteed 1 outside, and 2 more guaranteed in each of the two dungeons, and there’s a chance for the king of the hill event to spawn 1.

Then you can do the Warden / Butcher if you want ( I would )

Hope this can help you guys get some millions, its not easy to find the best place to farm in inferno act 1!

Demon Hunter Best in Slot Gear for Diablo 3

Here are what is believed to be the Best In slot Gear, stats, for Demon Hunter in Diablo 3

BiS DH D3 Gear and Stat Priority

**An Updated guide for patch 1.0.3 with attack speed changes can be found here**

“Most of this post was taken from the D3 Forums – Originally written by Ace

Stat Priority

Critical Hit Damage -> Attack Speed -> Dexterity >/= Critical Hit % -> +Damage

 Remember, Critical Hit % caps at 100%, Movement Speed caps at 25%.  Note that, while Attack Speed yields higher DPS, Dexterity & Critical Hit % can often be more practical in Inferno mode.

Defensively, Movement Speed and Discipline seem to be the safest investment.  Knock back, Immobilize, and Chill are also very effective.

 My research revolves around the current “top damage” Demon Hunters farming Diablo on Inferno rather easily.  Now onto the list:

 **Bear in mind this list is subject to change as the game updates and new items are discovered**

 Helm:

1. Andariel’s Visage (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/andariels-visage)

2. Natalya’s Gaze (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/natalyas-gaze)

No surprise here, Andariel’s Visage provides 12-13% Attack Speed and a big chunk of Dexterity with a +3% chance to crit to boot.  On the other hand, Natalya’s Gaze (with the set bonuses) provides +7% chance to crit and a big chunk of Dexterity, with the added bonus of Discipline Regeneration which, isn’t incredibly good, but it may just help you survive those clench situations when you need that one extra Smoke Screen and Preparation is on cool down.  The chance to fear is also nice for survivability.

Shoulders:

1. (Appropriate rare)

 This one’s still up in the air for me.  As of right now there really aren’t any outstanding shoulders for Demon Hunter.  I recommend getting something with a chance to chill and Dexterity.

 Chest:

1. Natalya’s Shadow (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/natalyas-shadow)

2. Beckon Sail (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/beckon-sail)

3. The Inquisitor (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-inquisitor)

4. (Appropriate rare)

Natalya’s Shadow currently seems to be favored by most Demon Hunters.  With additional sockets one can stack loads of Dexterity into this single item, but perhaps the most appealing quality is the set bonuses.  An added bonus is the 6-7% Life and if you’re lucky, a skill boost which benefits your build.  I listed The Inquisitor because of the Dexterity and movement speed increase as well as skill boost, however, Natalya’s Shadow remains superior for DPS.  Beckon Sail is my personal favorite given the Attack Speed increase and, if you’re lucky, slots and hatred regeneration.

It has come to my attention that there are situational appropriate rares (i.e. +130 Dexterity with 2 Sockets) which yield more DPS over an item such as Natalya’s Shadow by itself, no set bonuses.  In this case, use the appropriate rare.

 Wrists:

1.  Strongarm Bracers (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/strongarm-bracers)

2.  Lacuni Prowlers (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/lacuni-prowlers)

3. (appropriate rare)

There really aren’t any outstanding wrist-slot items for Demon Hunter discovered at the moment.  Strongarm Bracers provide a nice chunk of Dexterity with a rather meager 2% to crit, however, the +3-4% to life and +1.0-5.1% chance to knockback on hit provides more survivability when clenched in Inferno. I prefer Lacuni Prowlers to the Strongarm Bracers.  12-13% Attack Speed coupled with 6-7% Movement speed increase accounts for a lot, especially when stacking Attack Speed.  There are, in fact, appropriate rares which yield more DPS over Strongarm Bracers, but likely lack Knockback.  The choice is yours.

 Gloves:

1. (Appropriate rare)

Not really too much available at the moment.  Most people find more success in using an appropriate Rare here, i.e. something with Critical Hit Damage and Dexterity.

 Waist:

1. (Appropriate rare)

2. Inna’s Blessing (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/innas-blessing)

3. The Witching Hour (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-witching-hour)

Try for Knockback or Crit % with Dexterity on your appropriate rare.  Another option is Inna’s Blessing with a good roll, on the condition that you’re also using Inna’s Glory (Legs) granting you a 2-piece set bonus of +130 Dexterity. The Witching Hour doesn’t seem considerable at first look, given the level and Intelligence; but, 10-12% Critical Hit Damage, Attack Speed, and a beneficial set of random magic properties roll make this belt viable.

 Legs:

1.  Inna’s Glory (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/innas-glory)

2.  (Appropriate rare)

Inna’s Glory while lacking the appropriate Dexterity for Demon Hunter provides 14-15% Attack Speed, 6-7% Movement speed, and an extra +1.0% chance to crit.  If you can manage it, you can also get away with the two-piece set bonus of +130 Dexterity.  I left room for an appropriate rare simply because you never know so early in the game.

 Boots

1. Natalya’s Soul (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/natalyas-soul)

2. Asheara’s Lock (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/artisan/blacksmith/recipe/ashearas-lock)

3. Boj Anglers (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/boj-anglers)

4. Zunimassa’s Journey (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/zunimassas-journey)

5. (appropriate rare)

You can go a lot of different directions with boots.  Natalya’s Soul will give you your set bonuses and some movement speed increase, but is a bit lacking in the stats department; just bear in mind what you’re getting and weigh it accordingly.  Asheara’s Lock, while being a level 52 item, provides a nice chunk of Dexterity (less than your Natalya’s set bonus mind you) with the added bonus of 14-15% Attack Speed.  A lot of people may wonder why I listed the Boj Anglers and it ain’t just cause I’m from the South.  Conditionally these little level 39 boots give you, if you’re lucky, a decent amount of Dexterity coupled with 10-11% movement speed and 12-13% Attack Speed.  You take a little bit of a DPS loss, but get the best of both worlds.  They’re also pretty cheap.  I recently added Zunimassa’s Journey as a viable best in slot, as it yields 5-6% poison damage, Attack Speed, and Movement Speed.  If you’re lucky, you can also find a pair with Immobilize making these boots a reasonable choice.

Amulet:

1. Ouroboros (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/ouroboros)

2. The Flavor of Time (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/the-flavor-of-time)

3. (appropriate rare)

Unfortunately, this seems to be a bit of a hot item.  Ouroboros gives you a significant amount of Dexterity and a big chunk of critical hit chance, but if you’re incredibly lucky or wealthy, you can find one with Critical Hit Damage.  The “each hit to life” isn’t too shabby either, considering most of us use Nether Tentacles anyway. The Flavor of Time is superior to an Ouroboros without Critical Hit Damage due to the Attack Speed and Movement Speed as well as additional lucky beneficiary rolls.  Another alternative is an appropriate rare.

Rings

1. Skull Grasp (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/skull-grasp)

2. Natalya’s Mark (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/natalyas-mark)

3. Hierophant’s Seal (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/hierophants-seal)

4. Eternal Union (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/eternal-union)

Skull Grasp is a very nasty ring.  A little raw damage, 4% to critical hit, 3-4% damage to elites, and a nice chunk of Dexterity makes for a great stat booster.  Natalya’s Mark, however, tops it.  With 14-15% Attack Speed, a lot of Dexterity, and set bonuses, this one’s a must have.  Hierophant’s Seal is still viable with 12-13% Attack Speed and +5-12% damage to demons (**Ahem**.. Diablo.) Eternal Union is also a viable choice with a lucky roll, as these rings can yield a high Dexterity bonus with Attack Speed.

 Weapons:

1.  (Appropriate rare)

Most Demon Hunters use 2H Crossbows at the moment.  Find something with 1,400+ DPS and (if you can) Critical Hit Damage or Attack Speed.  Voilà, things die easier.  As obvious as these sounds, this is without a doubt your most important equipment slot.  No other item will provide nearly as significant a DPS upgrade as your weapon, so prioritizing this is a must.

HINT: If you’re having difficulty killing Elite packs, Rares, and/or Bosses on Inferno mode, consider taking the time to upgrade your weapon.  It may save you a lot of time and frustration.

Quiver:

1. Dead Man’s Legacy (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/dead-mans-legacy)

2. (Appropriate rare)

 Dead Man’s Legacy is without a doubt the best in slot quiver for Demon Hunter.  With Dexterity, Attack Speed, Hatred Regeneration, and a lucky magic roll (preferably Hungering Arrow) this quiver is downright godly.

How to know if A Diablo 3 Item is worth selling on the Auction House

A extremely difficult thing to do in Diablo 3 is to learn the market, aka Auction House.

The game of Diablo 3 is so new that most prices have not stabilized yet, hence, the market is fluctuating and constantly dropping for mediocre or mid/low level legendary gear. (6-5-12 is the date of this posting

In this article I will tell you a few tips on how to tell if a piece of gear is any good! I am still not a pro at the market, but when I see an item I usually can tell after 5 seconds of looking at it if it’s going to be used, sold(vendored), or thrown on the Auction House.

 

Nerd Tip # 1Don’t try to learn the entire market! Learn your class and the gear you are using, this will naturally allow you to learn the market of the gear set you use, and as you browse the auction house at level 60, you will see, and learn, what the max stats are for the stats you need on certain pieces of gear.  This will then roll over into other gear sets because it all uses the same formulas.

Nerd Tip # 2Wasted stats! Does the item you want to sell have wasted stats? What are wasted stats you ask? Let me give you an example.  If you find a level 60 belt, and it has, 150 strength, 100 vitality, +88 life on hit, a socket, and + 120 dex.  First thing to see is that it would be best for a barbarian, a monk or demon hunter could use it, but the wasted stat would be the +120 dex because it doesn’t benefit the barb as well as another stat.  So for this item I would rate it 8/10, if it had a better stat, say +5% life instead of dex, it would be 9/10.  This is just an example but you see where I am going.  People who are paying millions of gold are looking for improvements on their gear, and while this is a good belt, it isn’t worth dropping millions on, because it has the unwanted stat of dex, and will soon be replaced again by the buyer.

Nerd Tip # 3Weapons! Weapons are slightly different, but not really.  Weapon’s main stat is obviously the DPS(damage per second), but always take into account that IAS(increased attack speed), an open socket, or similar stats increase DPS too!So while say a Demon Hunter bow that has 1000 dmg and +20 ias with an open socket seems inferior to an 1100 bow with not as much IAS and no socket, you may actually LOSE DPS with the 1100 because of the stats.

Here an example price range, to demonstrate how at the higher level, a few stats mean the difference from 1 million and 15 million on the auction house.

500-700 blue bow – Average price 20-50k

700-800 rare bow – 650-1 million

800-1000 rare bow – 1 million to 2 million

1000-1050 rare bow –  2-5 million

1050-1200 rare / blue bow – 2.5 – 25 million (WOAH bro!)

It can go higher than this, but that is just an example of how much it jumps at the higher levels when people are trying to maximize their damage output.  A wasted stat on a 1200 dps bow could mean the difference from 2 million to 25 million.

Nerd Tip # 4Legendary rolls and how to price them!  Legendary items can be tricky to price, but if you study the item for about 5 minutes you can understand how much it’s worth.  I’ll give you an example.

String of Ears– This is one of the best barb belts, and I recently purchased one , but spent 45 minutes studying the auction house pages (40+ page of them) and after I learned what made the belt expensive, I knew what I was looking for.  As a barb I wanted strength, vitality, good+ life on hit, and 18-20% dmg reduction(20 being perfect).  I saw that the near perfect ones were 25 million, but low end ones were 1 million.   I had a price range of 3 million.   I looked at over 150 different belts, comparing stats, but i would just mouse over them looking for 1 thing that was the deal breaker that I didn’t , or did want that belt to have, DMG reduction, if it was 17% or less, i moved on, if it didn’t have strength and vitality, I moved on.  Finally I found one with 60 strength 30 vitality and 18% dmg reduction for 2 million.  I remembered what page it was on, doubled checked a few more belts, and decided on it.  I am glad I did, but the research I did was totally worth it because if not I would just want to upgrade it later on, and would have a hard time trying to sell a crappy rolled one that i “settled on”.  I can now flip this belt for maybe 3 million, and then use that to upgrade and do the same process for a slight upgrade.

The same wall of text explanation I just gave you above can relate to any other legendary that you are trying to sell, or buy.  I hope this was all atleast semi-helpful, to the new players atleast, because almost every day a friend or two asks me if this is worth something, so I figured their were others out there that could use a Price Guide 101 read!

Be easy my fellow nerds ! EZ PZ! –  Your Nerd Brother, Boot Danger

 

Diablo 3 – Five Classes Extraordinary

It is already well known that Diablo 3 has five confirmed classes, but most site’s don’t break down the classes too well, and neither do we.

Well, I don’t have beta and I haven’t played it once, but here is my researched opinion on the subject at hand which would be..

What is the best class for Diablo 3 at launch?

Just kidding.

The 5 Diablo III Classes Are…

Barbarian

He is a brute force beast powerhouse of destructive rage induced with acid dripping hate.

He will slaughter with his blades anything that comes into his way, including his friends.

You are lucky there is no friendly fire in D3 cause you would be out bro.

Witch Doctor

It doesn’t matter if you are into fixing hurt legs and writing prescriptions, or witch craft and sorcery!

If you chose to play as the Witch Doctor in D3, be prepared to be overpowered,

until stricken down by the heaven’s light which would be the most epic class not in the game, the paladin.

Wizard

A wizard controls the storms, twists the skies, and shreds the hearts out of the evil enemy demons in diablo 3.

If you choose a wizard you will be glad you did because the wizard class has some of the best and most epic abilitys in the game.

No one can stare into the face of the most epic wizards in the land, don’t you wish that was you?

Monk

A holy monk, protects and serves his people, with mighty fists, clenched tight like a fist of a thief

He fights with honor and dignity, restore clarity and harmonious peace to d3.

He will yield the holy light and be a warrior of the light, in speed and martial arts, too ez pz bro.

Demon Hunter

A demon hunter, this foul beast of a human figurement, he preys upon demons, eatin their souls into eternal damnation in his rear.

He rolls and dashes in all directions, not one but two directives, he shoots and pew pews, and also throws and goes boom boom

The mighty hunter of the demons, shall be a class for the ranged lovers, like myself, just keep on rollin’ baby, you know what pew pew time it is.