# Diablo 3 May 15th! **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 15, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860 "2012-03-15T14:13:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 27
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/523 "2012-06-14T06:18:42Z")
There’s an achievement for the prisoners, if you get them all. I don’t think there’s any exp or gold bonus for it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/524 "2012-06-14T06:21:07Z")
> [@](#): > > There’s an achievement for the prisoners, if you get them all. Yeah, but that’s for getting all 13 of them, not for the 8 that the quest objective says. ---
**Author:** ![MJinks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@MJinks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MJinks)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/525 "2012-06-14T12:28:04Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Okay, maybe someone can help me with my build. I’m level 54 barbarian, I alternate between Frenzy, Bash, and Cleave as primary attack depending on my weapon. Right now I’m using Bash since Cleave wasn’t doing it for me. My secondary is Hammer of the Ancients with the focused, extra damage rune - this deals good damage. Damage is not really my problem. My 1 slot is Ground Stomp with double fury rune, my 2 slot is Revenge with 30% chance rune, my 3 slot is War Cry with regen rune (with passive Inspiring Presence to double effects) and my 4 slot is Earthquake w/added fire damage. > > Passives are Inspiring Prescence, Nerves of Steel and that other one that increases armor by 25% I have alternated between that and superstition. I have also tried more offensive tactics like weapons master and the +25% damage when at full fury rune, but they leave me too vulnerable health-wise. > > My biggest problem is I keep getting stuck in the middle of enemies and unable to escape, and revenge is not triggering often enough to save me. Used to be I could get the magic packs by using ground stomp to stun and then Earthquake, but this is no longer causing enough damage to kill them in one shot. At this level you need to start concentrating more on survival and less on damage. I recommend the Leap ability with the Iron Impact rune and Furious Charge with the Merciless Assault runes (switching to the Dreadnaught rune at level 56). They will give you excellent manoeuvrability. Ignore Pain (IiB or IH rune) is extremely valuable and helps you mitigate expected spikes in damage. War Cry (Hardened Wrath) will increase your armour by 40% and you can have it up permanently. Healing over time is nice but taking less damage is better. For the main attack the choice is between Frenzy (Sidearm rune) and Cleave. I prefer Frenzy as staying alive in groups is much easier than against tough single targets. We really have no decent secondary abilities and so you might as well go ahead and put Revenge on secondary. None of the skills I mentioned use Fury so using the Berserker Rage passive is pretty much a permanent 25% DPS bonus. If you really feel you don’t need the extra DPS then Superstition is great. Nerves of Steel and Tough as Nails are pretty much essential. So I’d recommend something like [this](http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#WVXSRk!bVc!acaZba), it should help you survive a lot longer. ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/526 "2012-06-14T14:49:55Z")
Is the noise the skeletons make when they die (sounds like bree-yark to me) a nod to the old D&D module “The Keep on the Borderlands”? I think it was goblin or kobold in the module. Could just be my imagination. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/527 "2012-06-14T15:09:59Z")
**MJinks** , I’m surprised not to see Ground Stomp in that lineup. Is the duration just reduced too much to be worthwhile in Hell and Inferno? And it wouldn’t have occurred to me to use both Leap and Furious Charge, since they serve such similar purposes. But I guess mobility is pretty important, after all. And I would have put one of those on right-click with Revenge on a number, to make it a bit easier to aim them. There’s also not all that much damage there. Do you count on partying with higher-damage classes, or just take a long time to kill things? ---
**Author:** ![MJinks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@MJinks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MJinks)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/528 "2012-06-14T15:49:49Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > **MJinks** , I’m surprised not to see Ground Stomp in that lineup. Is the duration just reduced too much to be worthwhile in Hell and Inferno? > > And it wouldn’t have occurred to me to use both Leap and Furious Charge, since they serve such similar purposes. But I guess mobility is pretty important, after all. And I would have put one of those on right-click with Revenge on a number, to make it a bit easier to aim them. > > There’s also not all that much damage there. Do you count on partying with higher-damage classes, or just take a long time to kill things? Ground Stomp is certainly nice but my problem with it is that I actually want things to hit me, just not for much damage, so I can use Revenge. Mobility is very important but if you take a look at the last rune on Furious Charge you’ll see why a lot of Inferno Barbs use it. It heals you 8% for every mob you charge through. It’s as awesome as it sounds. Furious Charge also gets you out of Jailer, which is nice. I remapped all my action buttons to the mouse but I think you’re right about putting something else on right-click. Leap would be a good choice. I actually have Revenge mapped to mouse-wheel-down, Charge on mouse-wheel-up, Leap on RMB and the other two on the side buttons. Damage is certainly an issue a lot of defensive Barbs have to deal with but it’s not as bad as it seems. The Berserker Rage passive helps but isn’t really needed until Act 3 IMO. The 75% attack speed bonus from Frenzy adds a ton of damage. It’s very hard to judge your actual DPS because the character sheet doesn’t update when you have a full Frenzy stack (because it only applies to Frenzy and no other attack). My character sheet currently shows I have 15k DPS when at full rage with the Berserker bonus and all my research tells me that’s enough to complete the game. I’m more worried about my survivability at this point. AFAIK the only Act boss with an enrage timer is The Butcher and he’s ridiculously easy for a Barb to kill anyway. ---
**Author:** ![MJinks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@MJinks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MJinks)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/529 "2012-06-14T16:08:04Z")
One thing I forgot to mention. The Sorceress companion gives you a 15% armour bonus and for not much money you can really increase her DPS to respectable levels. Try and get her a weapon with as much DPS and Intelligence as you’re willing to pay for and concentrate on pure Intelligence for her other items. I spent 400k and she now has 4.3k DPS. It helps. I have her with Forceful Push, Powered Armour, Erosion and Mass Control. Her AoE abilities do a surprising amount of damage. ---
**Author:** ![Vicullum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/6de8d8/32.png) [@Vicullum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicullum)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/530 "2012-06-14T16:13:57Z")
So far I’ve made $8 (after fees) on the real money auction house selling rares I farmed in act 2 inferno for $2 a piece. They weren’t even all that good–they had maybe 1 or 2 decent stats. I had no luck selling them for 20k gold each, but people are willing to paying $2 for them. Boggles the mind. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/531 "2012-06-14T16:19:23Z")
> [@Rucksinator](#): > > I’m at lvl 39 in Act II Nightmare, so I went back to look up this post. > I prefer Explosive Blast for my (4) skill (instead of Mirror Image). I wade into the enemies, cast diamond skin (except I use Mirror Skin to reflect damage back), then cast Explosive Blast to do massive damage. I didn’t like Sleet Storm with Ray of Frost because it doesn’t have any range, but it makes sense if you’re going to be wading into the middle of a pack( like I have been ever since I got the Diamond Skin and Explosive Blast combo). Lesser packs die after one blast. The problem is when they don’t die (ie. when their names are in blue) and your diamond skin wears off and you’re in the middle of a pack of them. I used to use Wave of Force as my (2) skill to help get out of that situation, but the venom hydra is too good to not use. > > I guess by Ice Nova you mean Ice Armor? If so, which rune are you referring to? I had a lot of fun playing with Explosive Blast and Teleport (Wormhole). Fire up the Explosive Blast, chamber a meteor, teleport right into it in time for the Blast, and port out in less than a second. Trust me, this is _very_ satisfying. And you don’t even need Diamond Skin. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/532 "2012-06-14T16:22:23Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > 🙂 That’s the one. > > I’m in Act II of Hell (getting very close to the end), and dying all the goddamn time. I read someone’s idea of eliminating signature spells entirely from your repertoire, so that’s where I am, with a frosty build: > -Primary mouse button is frost ray, with the black ice variant. > -Secondary mouse button is blizzard at reduced cost. > -Venom Hydra > -Diamond Skin (double protection) > -Magic Weapon (healing variant) > -Mirror Image (5-clone variant) > > In many fights, I spam the non-mouse skills to get them all going, and then throw down a blizzard and frost ray the first enemy. You end up with three area attacks (the black ice, the venom pools, and the blizzard), and it takes care of enemies pretty well. > The worst thing I ever encountered was just recently: a fast molten horde of ghosts, whose AI tells them to swirl around me at high speed before settling in for the kill. I couldn’t do crap against them, and eventually led them to a far corner of the dungeon before dying so that I could sneak past them. They were awful. > > The best thing I’ve found is a level 55 polearm that does like 520 damage, plus a bunch of other traits. It does more damage than any comparable weapon at the AH currently, so I’ve put it up for sale for 400K, just to see if I get any nibbles. This is definitely an ecclectic build. What are your passives? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/533 "2012-06-14T18:27:50Z")
**MJinks** , a million thanks. Sometimes it just takes a little thinking outside the box. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/534 "2012-06-15T17:47:56Z")
To all of those who tried to group up with me last night…my apologies for falling asleep at the keyboard…I am not ignoring you! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/535 "2012-06-15T19:30:56Z")
As an aside, I think that Iron Man has gone into the crossbow-manufacturing business. A few days ago, I was searching the Auction House, and found a couple called “Stark Arc” and “Stark Avenger”. ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/536 "2012-06-16T00:47:40Z")
Last night Hirka and I killed Asmodan in NM (my lvl 49 wizard and his 47 monk). We both died, then on our 2nd attempt I died, he eventually revived me, and we finished him off. After Hirka took off I tried to take him on myself and I got my ass handed to me several times until I changed up my skills. Today I did the first quest of act 4. Got my ass handed to me again, then changed up my skills to the Disintigrate that goes into a cone and a couple other changes. Now I run to the back corner and use diamond skin and ice armor, and alternate between Disintigrate and CL, with the occasional Explosive Blast and Wave of force to make the stutter-step necessary to grab health globes… I’m running this Q over and over. I estimate about 17 - 20 runs to get from 50 to 51. That’s what I’ll be doing for the next while. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/537 "2012-06-16T00:58:12Z")
And after having a lot of trouble with Hell Rakanoth yesterday, I breezed past him today. The trick was to realize that he’s basically the same as Duriel: He’s a melee guy, but his killer attack is one that he makes from a distance. So if you stay close to him, he doesn’t hurt you nearly as much. Now only D’ himself stands between me and Inferno. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/538 "2012-06-16T17:16:55Z")
Inferno Belial is slowing me down a bit. I think I am adequately geared, but perhaps I just need to practice on Hell to dodge his attacks. I hardly have time to launch attacks of my own; I am just going to try to stay alive and let the hydra wear him down. This might be a project. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/539 "2012-06-16T18:12:09Z")
Not that big of a delay, evidently. He died like everyone else. On to A3. at last. ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/540 "2012-06-16T18:51:46Z")
> [@Vicullum](#): > > So far I’ve made $8 (after fees) on the real money auction house selling rares I farmed in act 2 inferno for $2 a piece. They weren’t even all that good–they had maybe 1 or 2 decent stats. I had no luck selling them for 20k gold each, but people are willing to paying $2 for them. Boggles the mind. Strange, isn’t it? I’ve made $13 so far after taxes and all that jazz. Sold about 7 rare items for $2 a piece, one unique for $5, and a really good rare for $4 or $5. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/541 "2012-06-16T18:58:54Z")
> [@nikonikosuru](#): > > Strange, isn’t it? I’ve made $13 so far after taxes and all that jazz. Sold about 7 rare items for $2 a piece, one unique for $5, and a really good rare for $4 or $5. Yeah. I regeared entirely from penny-ante sales in the RMAH. It took ten little sales to buy a 1150 DPS weapon, whereas it would have taken more like 100 sales on the gold AH. Now I just work both of them. ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860/542 "2012-06-17T02:29:03Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > Yeah. I regeared entirely from penny-ante sales in the RMAH. It took ten little sales to buy a 1150 DPS weapon, whereas it would have taken more like 100 sales on the gold AH. Now I just work both of them. I’ll be honest, at first I thought people were idiots for buying intangible items with real life money (a la WoW, TF2, etc.) but seeing as how they set up the auction houses, I’m with you in that it’s way easier to get some dimes here and there by selling stuff and then buying better stuff with real money, then to sell for gold and then bid with the gold. I will never have the amount of gold people ask for the items I really want/need, but people like myself are always selling good stuff for cheap money. I’m at about $14 now so I can either save it up and earn the money back I spent buying Diablo 3, buy some better gear like you did, or take that money and go out for a dinner with my bf. 🙂 Still…I think I will always feel cynical because Blizzard set this up specifically to benefit the company and siphon more money from people. Imagine how much money they must’ve made so far. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diablo-3-may-15th/615860.md?page=28)