Though, I mean, if you're gonna go back and buy them, just get the battle chest anyway and it'll come with everything (except Hellfire, but that's not a big deal, 3rd party xpack for Diablo).
Although be aware that there's a newer version of the Battle Chest that doesn't include the original Diablo.
Thats...uh...that doesn't quite make a battle chest. That makes it like...Diablo II complete or something.
That's silly.
Yeah, basically they threw in a Diablo II strategy guide in place of the first Diablo. It's pretty dumb.
ROFL.
Yeah because what Diablo II needed was a strategy guide. That's hilarious.
"here, instead of a classic game you might want to play, here's a completely unnecessary guide for a game that has long since been patched to make it irrellivant, as if there was anything in the game that needed a guide anyway!"
That cracks me up. It's also really depressing.
Ah, Diablo II. When it launched I went into a Software, Etc. to get it. They shoved the strategy guide at me. "Look at all these tables in the back!" the store manager said, pretending like he didn't know me even though I worked there at Christmas not 5 months before. "Both DiabloII.net and Blizzard have said this stuff would not be on the internet!".
"Yeah.... no." I responded, then failed to purchase the game due my check being declined (someone had used my drivers license number during a bad check run through several Dallas Wal-Marts). But when I did obtain the game, I went to both of those sites to get current info since those tables changed every patch .
I thought that changing your skill/runes with a 5 second cool down was enough of a deterrent. It set things up nicely for when you are focused on AoE'ing, you could switch to single target skills right before a boss. Its apparent that they really really do not want you to switch ever unless its right before you start playing.
Though, I mean, if you're gonna go back and buy them, just get the battle chest anyway and it'll come with everything (except Hellfire, but that's not a big deal, 3rd party xpack for Diablo).
Although be aware that there's a newer version of the Battle Chest that doesn't include the original Diablo.
Thats...uh...that doesn't quite make a battle chest. That makes it like...Diablo II complete or something.
That's silly.
Yeah, basically they threw in a Diablo II strategy guide in place of the first Diablo. It's pretty dumb.
ROFL.
Yeah because what Diablo II needed was a strategy guide. That's hilarious.
"here, instead of a classic game you might want to play, here's a completely unnecessary guide for a game that has long since been patched to make it irrellivant, as if there was anything in the game that needed a guide anyway!"
That cracks me up. It's also really depressing.
Ah, Diablo II. When it launched I went into a Software, Etc. to get it. They shoved the strategy guide at me. "Look at all these tables in the back!" the store manager said, pretending like he didn't know me even though I worked there at Christmas not 5 months before. "Both DiabloII.net and Blizzard have said this stuff would not be on the internet!".
"Yeah.... no." I responded, then failed to purchase the game due my check being declined (someone had used my drivers license number during a bad check run through several Dallas Wal-Marts). But when I did obtain the game, I went to both of those sites to get current info since those tables changed every patch .
Diablo strategy guides: Not the worst piece of Diablo swag that exists.
That "honor" goes to the Diablo II D&D adventure/campaign, "To Hell and Back."
I hope you love motherfucking tables, because that's what you're going to be rolling on all the time. For the rest of eternity.
I mean, it has you randomly generate every. zone.
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
The battlechest is $19.99 on Amazon - worth getting? It had Diablo, Diablo 2, the Diablo 2 expansion and the strategy guide.
You can buy digital copies directly from Battle.net. I think its $10 for d2 and $10 for the expansion, so you'd losing out on d1 and the guide, but you wouldn't have to wait for delivery or whatever. The d2 and expac from the Battlechest can be registered on battle.net so they store your keys, letting you re-download them whenever you want, so thats another tick in the column for the physical battlechest.
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
I thought that changing your skill/runes with a 5 second cool down was enough of a deterrent. It set things up nicely for when you are focused on AoE'ing, you could switch to single target skills right before a boss. Its apparent that they really really do not want you to switch ever unless its right before you start playing.
What's a more interesting mechanic: one where it makes sense to have your aoe build and your single target build, or one where you're motivated to balance the two?
I thought that changing your skill/runes with a 5 second cool down was enough of a deterrent. It set things up nicely for when you are focused on AoE'ing, you could switch to single target skills right before a boss. Its apparent that they really really do not want you to switch ever unless its right before you start playing.
What's a more interesting mechanic: one where it makes sense to have your aoe build and your single target build, or one where you're motivated to balance the two?
The first one actually. I like toying with multiple builds.
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I don't like the Wizard a lot. What skills do Wizard proponents recommend?
I actually found Wizard to be pretty strong. Freezing big groups with frost nova and then blasting with wave of force and arcane orb is pretty effective.
Arcane orb against everything is pretty effective. Runed magic missile for picking off single targets.
I don't like the Wizard a lot. What skills do Wizard proponents recommend?
Wizard felt like total dead weight to me until I got Shock Pulse with the Explosive Bolts Rune, then it is a matter of finding a group of enemies and chain exploding them all with one click.
Add Diamond Skin as a defensive and you go from feeling like a glass cannon to an engine of destruction.
I also took some gear that gives HP per hit so that each time I AOE I heal to full in less than a second.
Yeah, I'm liking all the AoE the wizard has. As Scosglen said plus Spectral Blades you can spam. Remains to be seen how useful they'll be later, buy it blows magic missile away at the start.
I don't like the Wizard a lot. What skills do Wizard proponents recommend?
Wizard felt like total dead weight to me until I got Shock Pulse with the Explosive Bolts Rune, then it is a matter of finding a group of enemies and chain exploding them all with one click.
Add Diamond Skin as a defensive and you go from feeling like a glass cannon to an engine of destruction.
I also took some gear that gives HP per hit so that each time I AOE I heal to full in less than a second.
Wizard was really tough until I figured out that spell damage is based on your weapon damage and then it was way easier.
Playing D3 just makes me miss D2. I miss when spells didn't give a shit what weapon was in my hand. I miss having more than a handful to choose from, and I miss being able to assign whichever one I want to whatever button I want. D2 Sorc players got pretty screwed in D3.
I also miss gems, and runes, and sockets. I miss giving a shit what gear dropped; so far, everything I've seen is so "meh" inducing that I don't care. I miss my choices having a meaning; I miss the thrill of speccing out and optimizing for your playstyle, instead of just clicking a few buttons and being done. I miss being able to USE my skills without having to swap them out and wait for a cooldown.
An interesting little game this D3 is. A worthy successor to D2 it ain't.
Playing D3 just makes me miss D2. I miss when spells didn't give a shit what weapon was in my hand. I miss having more than a handful to choose from, and I miss being able to assign whichever one I want to whatever button I want. D2 Sorc players got pretty screwed in D3.
I also miss gems, and runes, and sockets. I miss giving a shit what gear dropped; so far, everything I've seen is so "meh" inducing that I don't care. I miss my choices having a meaning; I miss the thrill of speccing out and optimizing for your playstyle, instead of just clicking a few buttons and being done. I miss being able to USE my skills without having to swap them out and wait for a cooldown.
An interesting little game this D3 is. A worthy successor to D2 it ain't.
Houn, some of of the things you're missing are IN the game or are based solely on the fact we're stuck at level 13. I suggest you look into the game more, it sure is a worthy successor from everything we know barring unlikely scenarios. You may or may not like it, though, I guess.
Playing D3 just makes me miss D2. I miss when spells didn't give a shit what weapon was in my hand. I miss having more than a handful to choose from, and I miss being able to assign whichever one I want to whatever button I want. D2 Sorc players got pretty screwed in D3.
I also miss gems, and runes, and sockets. I miss giving a shit what gear dropped; so far, everything I've seen is so "meh" inducing that I don't care. I miss my choices having a meaning; I miss the thrill of speccing out and optimizing for your playstyle, instead of just clicking a few buttons and being done. I miss being able to USE my skills without having to swap them out and wait for a cooldown.
An interesting little game this D3 is. A worthy successor to D2 it ain't.
When Diablo II came out I had purchased day one and I played it for about 6 hours. I HATED IT. It was just the same game minus the ability to have any spell i wanted on my character. It was missing the dread I felt stepping into the dungeon for the first time. Nothing seemed really improved and I just didn't enjoy myself. 2 months later I loaded it up and then proceeded to love the hell out of it. I really couldn't tell you what changed or why it clicked, it just did. I hope you can have a similar experience.
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VariableMouth CongressStroke Me Lady FameRegistered Userregular
Playing D3 just makes me miss D2. I miss when spells didn't give a shit what weapon was in my hand. I miss having more than a handful to choose from, and I miss being able to assign whichever one I want to whatever button I want. D2 Sorc players got pretty screwed in D3.
I also miss gems, and runes, and sockets. I miss giving a shit what gear dropped; so far, everything I've seen is so "meh" inducing that I don't care. I miss my choices having a meaning; I miss the thrill of speccing out and optimizing for your playstyle, instead of just clicking a few buttons and being done. I miss being able to USE my skills without having to swap them out and wait for a cooldown.
An interesting little game this D3 is. A worthy successor to D2 it ain't.
being down on item drops and number of skills in the beginning of the first act is incredibly silly don't you think?
GoodKingJayIIIThey wanna get mygold on the ceilingRegistered Userregular
edited April 2012
I don't think it's entirely fair to say whether or not D3 is a "worthy successor" of D2 based on a fraction of the gameplay. I'm going to reserve judgment for release, at least.
The barbarian is wonderful fun. I'm looking forward to seeing what else he has to offer. I was having a tough time deciding barb or monk for my first character; now that I've actually played one it's only harder.
Regardless of how this game compares to D2, it's definitely good: quests, physics, sound and music, solid game play. It's all there and I'm ready to have a good time with it. Runs smooth as butter on my 3-yr old machine and kinda-sorta functions on my MacBook Air!
@Houn you can assign whatever skill to whatever button you want by going into the options and selecting... I think it's elective mode. Can't confirm because servers are dead.
I don't get why people keep comparing a tutorial to their entire experience of Diablo 2 and an expanison.
It's as if I was going to try a new collectible card game, so I buy a single booster pack and then decide it's terrible due to limited deck-building options.
Lack of meaningful choices indeed.
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KalTorakOne way or another, they all end up inthe Undercity.Registered Userregular
Playing D3 just makes me miss D2. I miss when spells didn't give a shit what weapon was in my hand.
This just seems like an argument for caster classes being gear-independent and thus overpowered. I think making casters care about their weapons was a brilliant bit of balancing.
Plus the drive for gear is one of the main motivators in diablo. I think this ties casting classes more tightly into the game's ethos.
The beta is just the first part of Act 1. Later on you will have more than a handful of spells to choose from. Remember early d2 you were not only limited to just a few spells, functionally you had even less than in d3 since you were committed to a path you couldn't respec from, and you were likely hoarding skill points.
and I miss being able to assign whichever one I want to whatever button I want.
Agreed. I miss the old d2 control scheme. Scroll wheel and function keys for life. I can see the appeal of the hotbar, but I want the ability to assign keys the old d2 way if I so choose. I like to point and shoot with my mouse damnit. Just in general I am against not being able to assign control schemes the way I want, in any game.
I also miss gems, and runes, and sockets. I miss giving a shit what gear dropped; so far, everything I've seen is so "meh" inducing that I don't care.
Later on you will have gems and sockets (no runes though ), and you will care about gear that drops. Remember this is act 1. Did anyone care about gear in d2 act 1?
Plus runes were an xpack thing in d2, maybe the same is true for d3
I miss my choices having a meaning; I miss the thrill of speccing out and optimizing for your playstyle, instead of just clicking a few buttons and being done. I miss being able to USE my skills without having to swap them out and wait for a cooldown.
An interesting little game this D3 is. A worthy successor to D2 it ain't.
On meaning: I have my reservations about the infinite respec system as well, but I think in practice people will end up using permanent-ish builds like d2 because they'll find something they like that works. people have inherent preferences for certain skills and playstyles and unless the incentive is large they won't end up skill switching constantly because--as you've discovered--that skill cooldown is annoying enough to be highly aversive.
I miss it too but lets not overromanticize d2 character building either:
for stats it was: enough str for gear, enough dex for max block or gear, rest to vit, none to energy.
then for skills: max main skill(s) and synergies. sprinkle one point wonders to taste.
this worked for 99% of characters out there. and there were cookie cutter guides for any of the tricky bits. I love mathcraft and guide reading and planning as much as the next guy, but innovative it was not.
I still think some middleground between no respecs ever at all and infinite respecs at no cost anywhere at anytime would have been best, but whatever
The game itself, it's great. Blizzard has hit a home run, and thats only considering the first six levels. Everything just flows so nicely
The atmosphere
The sense of power from the skills and abilities
The witch doctor voice
The fact there is still a tad of humor but the situation feels INCREDIBLY dire
The graphics
Things I'm sad about
Skill selection only to one spot Why can't I use the spiders AND the poison bolt. Or fire bats and grasping hands. There's few enough skills as it is without arbitrary rules
Multiple power levels on runestones being gone
Numerous problems with online only being brought to the forefront during this stress test. They really should have rethought that.
Posts
Ah, Diablo II. When it launched I went into a Software, Etc. to get it. They shoved the strategy guide at me. "Look at all these tables in the back!" the store manager said, pretending like he didn't know me even though I worked there at Christmas not 5 months before. "Both DiabloII.net and Blizzard have said this stuff would not be on the internet!".
"Yeah.... no." I responded, then failed to purchase the game due my check being declined (someone had used my drivers license number during a bad check run through several Dallas Wal-Marts). But when I did obtain the game, I went to both of those sites to get current info since those tables changed every patch
I still max bonespear because I give no fucks.
Diablo strategy guides: Not the worst piece of Diablo swag that exists.
That "honor" goes to the Diablo II D&D adventure/campaign, "To Hell and Back."
I hope you love motherfucking tables, because that's what you're going to be rolling on all the time. For the rest of eternity.
I mean, it has you randomly generate every. zone.
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
You can buy digital copies directly from Battle.net. I think its $10 for d2 and $10 for the expansion, so you'd losing out on d1 and the guide, but you wouldn't have to wait for delivery or whatever. The d2 and expac from the Battlechest can be registered on battle.net so they store your keys, letting you re-download them whenever you want, so thats another tick in the column for the physical battlechest.
CorriganX on Steam and just about everywhere else.
The first one actually. I like toying with multiple builds.
Official PA Forums FFXIV:ARR Free Company <GHOST> gitl.enjin.com Join us on Sargatanas!
I actually found Wizard to be pretty strong. Freezing big groups with frost nova and then blasting with wave of force and arcane orb is pretty effective.
Arcane orb against everything is pretty effective. Runed magic missile for picking off single targets.
Add Diamond Skin as a defensive and you go from feeling like a glass cannon to an engine of destruction.
I also took some gear that gives HP per hit so that each time I AOE I heal to full in less than a second.
Bravely Default / 3DS Friend Code = 3394-3571-1609
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Arcane Orb does have a nova rune.
I also miss gems, and runes, and sockets. I miss giving a shit what gear dropped; so far, everything I've seen is so "meh" inducing that I don't care. I miss my choices having a meaning; I miss the thrill of speccing out and optimizing for your playstyle, instead of just clicking a few buttons and being done. I miss being able to USE my skills without having to swap them out and wait for a cooldown.
An interesting little game this D3 is. A worthy successor to D2 it ain't.
Nope. Unless I haven't noticed it either. Someone else they should patch in.
This is not how you go about not rehatching a debate btw.
Official PA Forums FFXIV:ARR Free Company <GHOST> gitl.enjin.com Join us on Sargatanas!
It's not how you go about not rehashing one either.
I dunno I'm having fun
click click click click click
Can I also infuse it with cold damage?
When Diablo II came out I had purchased day one and I played it for about 6 hours. I HATED IT. It was just the same game minus the ability to have any spell i wanted on my character. It was missing the dread I felt stepping into the dungeon for the first time. Nothing seemed really improved and I just didn't enjoy myself. 2 months later I loaded it up and then proceeded to love the hell out of it. I really couldn't tell you what changed or why it clicked, it just did. I hope you can have a similar experience.
being down on item drops and number of skills in the beginning of the first act is incredibly silly don't you think?
The barbarian is wonderful fun. I'm looking forward to seeing what else he has to offer. I was having a tough time deciding barb or monk for my first character; now that I've actually played one it's only harder.
Regardless of how this game compares to D2, it's definitely good: quests, physics, sound and music, solid game play. It's all there and I'm ready to have a good time with it. Runs smooth as butter on my 3-yr old machine and kinda-sorta functions on my MacBook Air!
Are you kidding?
The beta ends at level 13. By that point the wizard has 10 spells, and multiple runes. How many spells could a Diablo 2 sorc have by level 13?
It's as if I was going to try a new collectible card game, so I buy a single booster pack and then decide it's terrible due to limited deck-building options.
Lack of meaningful choices indeed.
Technically? 15.
Realistically? one point each in Ice Bolt and Ice Blast, one in Static Field.
"more than a handful" in D2 means pick Frozen Orb or Blizzard.
This just seems like an argument for caster classes being gear-independent and thus overpowered. I think making casters care about their weapons was a brilliant bit of balancing.
Plus the drive for gear is one of the main motivators in diablo. I think this ties casting classes more tightly into the game's ethos.
The beta is just the first part of Act 1. Later on you will have more than a handful of spells to choose from. Remember early d2 you were not only limited to just a few spells, functionally you had even less than in d3 since you were committed to a path you couldn't respec from, and you were likely hoarding skill points.
Agreed. I miss the old d2 control scheme. Scroll wheel and function keys for life. I can see the appeal of the hotbar, but I want the ability to assign keys the old d2 way if I so choose. I like to point and shoot with my mouse damnit. Just in general I am against not being able to assign control schemes the way I want, in any game.
Just hate the wizard? screwed is strong...
Later on you will have gems and sockets (no runes though
Plus runes were an xpack thing in d2, maybe the same is true for d3
On meaning: I have my reservations about the infinite respec system as well, but I think in practice people will end up using permanent-ish builds like d2 because they'll find something they like that works. people have inherent preferences for certain skills and playstyles and unless the incentive is large they won't end up skill switching constantly because--as you've discovered--that skill cooldown is annoying enough to be highly aversive.
I miss it too but lets not overromanticize d2 character building either:
for stats it was: enough str for gear, enough dex for max block or gear, rest to vit, none to energy.
then for skills: max main skill(s) and synergies. sprinkle one point wonders to taste.
this worked for 99% of characters out there. and there were cookie cutter guides for any of the tricky bits. I love mathcraft and guide reading and planning as much as the next guy, but innovative it was not.
I still think some middleground between no respecs ever at all and infinite respecs at no cost anywhere at anytime would have been best, but whatever
The game itself, it's great. Blizzard has hit a home run, and thats only considering the first six levels. Everything just flows so nicely
The atmosphere
The sense of power from the skills and abilities
The witch doctor voice
The fact there is still a tad of humor but the situation feels INCREDIBLY dire
The graphics
Things I'm sad about
Skill selection only to one spot
Multiple power levels on runestones being gone
Numerous problems with online only being brought to the forefront during this stress test. They really should have rethought that.