I saw a couple videos of the new bosses on peoples eternal characters. They do not look to be designed to be harder or on par with lilith. They look very farmable.
Yeah all the new endgame bosses are meant to be part of the core progression loop whereas only Lilith is the "pinnacle boss", which once you beat her you're done. Though I suspect the main wart on S2 is going to be that it won't take people very long to get there.
I spent S1 running around as a MendelnMancer and it was awesome, just stormin bones and deleting mobs. Thought about going sorc in S2 but decided to go with a rogue for some reason. Currently specd ranged/melee (arrow shoot for single target blade fan thing for multiple mobs), it seems to play well I'm just not sure how I feel about it, I might just miss my lil Mendelnmen.
It seems like leveling is much faster than it was in S1, got to level 22 or 23 in like an hour or something and I only did a couple of the S2 questions (currently gated by needing to complete Act 2 of the season pass). I know they buffed leveling speed, but I think I also have a better understanding of how the game works this time around, I havent shied away from the vampire helltide things, legion events, or world bosses (even though the one I killed took 12 deaths and like 10 minutes) like I did with my first character.
Initial impressions: S2 not bad, rogue maybe okay?
They really need to stop putting seasonal items in the main inventory though, I know its only like 2-3 slots at the end of the day but I'm running around looking for loot not bottles of paint thinner.
I think their philosophy is that it's perfectly okay if you beat the season in a month and then stop playing until the next one. Their monetization model is mostly compatible with that. 3 month seasons seem appropriate in that context. The question is whether the playerbase can accept that or if they'll pitch a fit when they start getting bored.
Considering how long D3 did it, I think a lot of folks will fit into that niche well enough.
The people who want to have all the content, all the time, why can't they stream 8 hours a day as a career path, they might have some issues, but I also don't consider 'the streamers like it and find it profitable' to be a major selling point for a game either.
Though given all the whining about how D4 was so low in the Twitch views a few weeks back, I almost made a shitpost about how there were hundreds of thousands of viewers yesterday (and it's at 70k currently, in the top 10 at time of writing), just to see some people wail and gnash themselves to death.
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
Quite possibly, though only 70k active out of 10+ million accounts would still make them fairly rare. :-P
(this is mostly in jest, I'm aware you only need to 'watch' for 4 hours out of an entire week, it's very possible that hundreds of thousands if not millions of people will get them)
I'm just amused contrasting that against the truly endless doom and gloom posts about how D4 had fallen in viewers. Based on the drops system alone, we may never really have an accurate pic without some serious historical data.
But then again, geese gonna geese.
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
And I do agree that it is still not really fun to watch long term. Ill check in for builds and such or the highlights area to see if anyone got a shako or the like but that is about it. But I also don't really watch PoE or D3 or even D2 streams anymore either.
I mean PoE took it from D2 so we just have come full circle heh.
I am not sure how they can improve on it though. I guess make a system where resistance values arent capped? It creates the same cycle in the end. You would still probably want the mobs be/feel more difficult so you would just add more into the mobs ability to "break" resistances then?
Dunno it is one of those eternal struggle in the genre. I was of the mind that I didnt care if they just got rid of resists completely and just refocused on expanding and changing around just gear affixes being either dmg or a flat tank value or two or three.
I still think they need to do it in a way that doesn't feel like the player is being punished for achieving something. We're smart enough to go "oh, I'm getting bodied in the higher difficulty... hmm, these monsters keep setting me on fire/freezing me/poisoning me... What do my resistances look like? Cool, I could work on those." Without beating us over the head with YOUR RESISTENCES HAVE BEEN REDUCED BY 25%, GOOD JOB!
Question about barbarian weapons: Do I get the benefit of all dem stats and aspects all the time, or only when that weapon is "out"?
How hard is this to play on the Steam Deck without buying it on Steam?
It's pretty straightforward.
1. Go into desktop mode, download the battle.net installer, add it to Steam.
2. Set compat for the installer to Proton Experimental and open it. Install battle.net.
3. Log in and install Diablo 4.
4. Optional - find the Diablo 4 exe and add it to Steam, set compat to Proton Experimental.
You're good to go at that point. It'll still launch the Battle.net launcher and force you to launch D4 from there, but it will update/work as expected.
First Butcher encounter of the season, in a random whisper basement. Facetanked him at 43. Used maybe 5 potions, but was at full portions at the end. Just trading bear swipes with him. Overpower warebear stronk.
Now thinking about doing the Cathedral at 46.. just don't want to end up having it be a waste of time.
In another note, definitely noticed a performance nosedive of i play for more than 2 hours or so. Starts with the horse turning more fiddly then usual and eventually even on foot in just rubberbanding all over the place. Was trying to interact with seasonal questgiver in Kyovoshad and my character kept running at empty air.
0
KoopahTroopahThe koopas, the troopas.Philadelphia, PARegistered Userregular
Made the Firewall Sorc yesterday, level ~30-32. First Butcher encounter in a cellar and I definitely felt underpowered to deal with that. Need gear and levels to both live and run from the big boy. He moves around too much for this build as well.
Mob density though, phew. Forget about it. Can't wait to get some aspects and gear to push the damage higher. So far though the most fun is in the Vampire 'helltides'. Enjoying just blowing stuff up on my way to do seasonal objectives. Not sure about the 'rolling' for vampire abilities though, I haven't been very lucky with the ones I want.
I'm curious how strong necro or druid pet specs are if you load up on vampire powers that give you a bat and boost bat/companion damage.
the only one that matters for necro would be the primary resource on attack one.
I'd actually probably do the thorns one as well if I werent playing blood lance.
Already seeing complaints about how the season is too fast and hitting 100 is too quick and the bosses too easy and like ughhhh
It was bad before just let me have this for a bit I am still on Act 1 of BG3, chill out internet.
I am concerned about that too though. I do not want them making the game too much more towards D3 end of the spectrum. To be clear I do not think it is close to that bad yet. Just the xp in the new zone is pretty nuts and I do not even have xp buffs from season or pots on yet.
My viewings of the bosses do show them to perhaps be a bit undertuned too but we are supposed to farm them too. I do not think they need to do a nerf pass either just to be clear. But I think we may see some adjustments back a bit down the line.
I am having a lot of fun though.
Jubal77 on
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KoopahTroopahThe koopas, the troopas.Philadelphia, PARegistered Userregular
edited October 2023
I dunno, I kind of like Diablo 4 being my return for a week or two game and then forget about it until next season. There's so many other games that I'd like to play so it's nice that they respect my time to give a little fun tight experience, and then be like "okay, see ya in a few months". I think the increase in XP/Loot/mob density and speed really help that feeling too. Less of a slog more zoom zoom.
Having gotten to 45 and WT3 in the span of 2 sessions does make me think they may let the pendulum swing back a hair for the next season, but after spending most of 2+ months of play getting to 100 last time, I'm okay with that grind being more like weeks than months, at least for now.
I too ran into the Butcher in my late 30's or early 40's, and it was a good fight. I'm really enjoying a minion focused Necromancer again, even if I expect the end game will lean more towards minionless play again. We'll see.
Went to my first world boss at like 38 in WT2. There were a couple of 35-40'ish folks, and then a bunch in the teens and 20's.
It was, of course, a clusterfuck. I ducked out after a couple of minutes fighting when we'd barely gotten them down 10%. Ran around, got levels, made it to WT3, went to the next one that showed up, we killed it swiftly and easily. Not that this is surprising, but I figured it was worth mentioning.
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
Yeah like I get the fear of it being empty after a significantly shorter time, and maybe they swung too hard. But hitting 100 was a slog (and Glyph grinding was rough) so thinking that maybe this will be a month instead of two is nice for my amount of play-per-day.
+1
SaldonasSee you space cowboy...Registered Userregular
Leveling speed feels pretty good so far. These vampire event zones are kinda nice now that I know what's going on. Still cautiously optimistic on how the mid/end game is gonna feel though.
On the one hand, I like the idea that I might actually be able to get a character to 100. Within a season maybe even!
On the other hand I saw some streamers yesterday are already 100, which feels fast after two days.
If I were a more troll based lifeform, I'd probably start dropping "40% faster? MORE LIKE 4,000% FASTER!" on Reddit just to see people flipping out.
Keep in mind that some of the (allegedly) fastest methods of levelling, things like doing half a dungeon and resetting, or part of a stronghold and resetting, are mind numbingly boring.
Rhykker went over it the other day, and also note that even if it's not the fastest to 100, picking up a tone of purified blood or whatever the stuff is by grinding the Greentide zones is just trading one grind for another.
Though I imagine one probably gets more in higher world tiers, so maybe that's a bit of a wash?
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
This is the future. This is what we built. This is what we wanted. It must have been. Because we all had the fucking choice, didn't we? It is only our money that allows commercial culture to flower. If we didn't want to live like this, we could have changed it at any time, by not fucking paying for it.
So let's celebrate by all going out and buying the same burger. -transmet
Man, they did such a good job with werebear, especially pulverize. It feels strong.
Also ya, these vampire powers are pretty sweet. I’m currently a life stealin, overpower slammin, vulnerable spreadin crit monster that spews angry vampire souls.
i'd argue that the vampire powers are still rather generic stat boosts for the most part. They should have made vampire curse as base added effect and have the powers play off the curse in some way. Still, an improvement from Season 1's malignancy is better than nothing
Posts
It seems like leveling is much faster than it was in S1, got to level 22 or 23 in like an hour or something and I only did a couple of the S2 questions (currently gated by needing to complete Act 2 of the season pass). I know they buffed leveling speed, but I think I also have a better understanding of how the game works this time around, I havent shied away from the vampire helltide things, legion events, or world bosses (even though the one I killed took 12 deaths and like 10 minutes) like I did with my first character.
Initial impressions: S2 not bad, rogue maybe okay?
They really need to stop putting seasonal items in the main inventory though, I know its only like 2-3 slots at the end of the day but I'm running around looking for loot not bottles of paint thinner.
The people who want to have all the content, all the time, why can't they stream 8 hours a day as a career path, they might have some issues, but I also don't consider 'the streamers like it and find it profitable' to be a major selling point for a game either.
Though given all the whining about how D4 was so low in the Twitch views a few weeks back, I almost made a shitpost about how there were hundreds of thousands of viewers yesterday (and it's at 70k currently, in the top 10 at time of writing), just to see some people wail and gnash themselves to death.
(this is mostly in jest, I'm aware you only need to 'watch' for 4 hours out of an entire week, it's very possible that hundreds of thousands if not millions of people will get them)
I'm just amused contrasting that against the truly endless doom and gloom posts about how D4 had fallen in viewers. Based on the drops system alone, we may never really have an accurate pic without some serious historical data.
But then again, geese gonna geese.
I still think they need to do it in a way that doesn't feel like the player is being punished for achieving something. We're smart enough to go "oh, I'm getting bodied in the higher difficulty... hmm, these monsters keep setting me on fire/freezing me/poisoning me... What do my resistances look like? Cool, I could work on those." Without beating us over the head with YOUR RESISTENCES HAVE BEEN REDUCED BY 25%, GOOD JOB!
Question about barbarian weapons: Do I get the benefit of all dem stats and aspects all the time, or only when that weapon is "out"?
Twitch: akThera
Steam: Thera
Steam Profile | Signature art by Alexandra 'Lexxy' Douglass
I do hope they don’t nerf the fun out of this. Xp and loot are everywhere and the vamp powers are nice to mix up with.
It's pretty straightforward.
1. Go into desktop mode, download the battle.net installer, add it to Steam.
2. Set compat for the installer to Proton Experimental and open it. Install battle.net.
3. Log in and install Diablo 4.
4. Optional - find the Diablo 4 exe and add it to Steam, set compat to Proton Experimental.
You're good to go at that point. It'll still launch the Battle.net launcher and force you to launch D4 from there, but it will update/work as expected.
Now thinking about doing the Cathedral at 46.. just don't want to end up having it be a waste of time.
In another note, definitely noticed a performance nosedive of i play for more than 2 hours or so. Starts with the horse turning more fiddly then usual and eventually even on foot in just rubberbanding all over the place. Was trying to interact with seasonal questgiver in Kyovoshad and my character kept running at empty air.
Mob density though, phew. Forget about it. Can't wait to get some aspects and gear to push the damage higher. So far though the most fun is in the Vampire 'helltides'. Enjoying just blowing stuff up on my way to do seasonal objectives. Not sure about the 'rolling' for vampire abilities though, I haven't been very lucky with the ones I want.
Twitch: KoopahTroopah - Steam: Koopah
It was bad before just let me have this for a bit I am still on Act 1 of BG3, chill out internet.
the only one that matters for necro would be the primary resource on attack one.
I'd actually probably do the thorns one as well if I werent playing blood lance.
I am concerned about that too though. I do not want them making the game too much more towards D3 end of the spectrum. To be clear I do not think it is close to that bad yet. Just the xp in the new zone is pretty nuts and I do not even have xp buffs from season or pots on yet.
My viewings of the bosses do show them to perhaps be a bit undertuned too but we are supposed to farm them too. I do not think they need to do a nerf pass either just to be clear. But I think we may see some adjustments back a bit down the line.
I am having a lot of fun though.
Twitch: KoopahTroopah - Steam: Koopah
I too ran into the Butcher in my late 30's or early 40's, and it was a good fight. I'm really enjoying a minion focused Necromancer again, even if I expect the end game will lean more towards minionless play again. We'll see.
Went to my first world boss at like 38 in WT2. There were a couple of 35-40'ish folks, and then a bunch in the teens and 20's.
It was, of course, a clusterfuck. I ducked out after a couple of minutes fighting when we'd barely gotten them down 10%. Ran around, got levels, made it to WT3, went to the next one that showed up, we killed it swiftly and easily. Not that this is surprising, but I figured it was worth mentioning.
Switch: SW-1493-0062-4053
Twitch: akThera
Steam: Thera
I REASD THIS AS HARNESS DANK VAMPIRIC POWERS
I WAS PROMPTLY DISAPPOINTED
I ONLY REALISED CAPSLOCK WAS ON HALFWAY THRU AND NOW I CANT STOP
On the other hand I saw some streamers yesterday are already 100, which feels fast after two days.
Switch: SW-1493-0062-4053
Keep in mind that some of the (allegedly) fastest methods of levelling, things like doing half a dungeon and resetting, or part of a stronghold and resetting, are mind numbingly boring.
Rhykker went over it the other day, and also note that even if it's not the fastest to 100, picking up a tone of purified blood or whatever the stuff is by grinding the Greentide zones is just trading one grind for another.
Though I imagine one probably gets more in higher world tiers, so maybe that's a bit of a wash?
“Comparison is the thief of joy. - Theodore Roosevelt”
- Michael Scott
... no really, it's cold and I forgot my jacket. I may actually die here.
So let's celebrate by all going out and buying the same burger. -transmet
Twitch: akThera
Steam: Thera
Also ya, these vampire powers are pretty sweet. I’m currently a life stealin, overpower slammin, vulnerable spreadin crit monster that spews angry vampire souls.
Streaming 8PST on weeknights