Temper first always!
It is that, and ancestral are in tier 4. Used to be a chance to drop sacred or ancestral when you went up tiers, now they are guaranteed. It’s just higher item levels, and 2 tempers on ancestrals.
From what I recall in Season 1 they are dropping a LOT more now. But they’ve also given a lot of customization options in tempering and rerolling and socketing items so you don’t have to wait for the next big drop to see improvements.
Got a couple double GA upgrades to drop yesterday, bricked them both. This is so disheartening at this level when upgrades take weeks to find. I did kill tormented Duriel and Andariel after not trying them for a long time, they were actually fairly easy at this point. Lillith up next.
We finally made it to 100. I got a big damage boost when I masterworked two items, but it’s not showing up in my attack power which worries me. Is this normal? Usually the damage affix increases attack power.
Also another question. When there’s an affix like +100% damage, is that 100% of current damage or 100% of base damage?
Highest level Pit we’ve cleared is level 30, so we have quite a lot of work ahead of us. I’ve had to use elixirs to boost my health just to survive. It’s hard when you have no ranged attacks.
I know the Barb is least in need of buffing but I’m excited about the buffs anyway. My whirlwind hasn’t been holding up great so I’m glad they buffed that.
Yes bricking items sucks. I’ve done it more than once.
It’s 100% added to all the other % damage increases you have that apply to the same attack. It all goes to the same bucket unless the skill or effect has an X by it, which makes it a multiplier. That’s why adding 100% damage is not going to feel like much, you probably already have a couple thousand % extra damage in the same bucket. Your attack power is a very poor reference for your actual power because it only tracks generic damage, like it wouldn’t couldn’t conditional buffs on your barb like “damage to close enemies” even though a barb is attacking almost exclusively close enemies. Pit 30 is not half bad for a fresh 100! make sure all your paragon glyphs are also leveled up.
Thanks! That explains a lot actually. I’ve been trying to ignore the attack power stat.
I am excited for the direction the game is going. Season 5 looks interesting based on what they described and it sounds like it might be a bridge into the expansion.
That said, I heard an interview with the developers, and they said at first they wanted to make a game like Diablo 2 which involves an endless grind where it takes years to find the right gear. They were wrong about what players really wanted, they said.
But the thing I can’t square is how they expected to fit an endless grind into a seasonal format. It’s clear from this game the Eternal realm is basically an afterthought. They want the seasons so they can get people to keep spending money. I like the beefed up season format but it seems far afield from Diablo 2.
So I really don’t quite believe what they are saying. Or else they really didn’t think that through.
Full disclosure: I only played very little of Diablo 2.
That’s interesting because I could say the same thing. I played a ton of 1 and 3 (only post auction house, so I don’t have a bunch of experience of what the game was like at launch), and I’ve already put dozens of hours into 4. I tried playing 2 at launch and I also purchased the remastered version before 4 came out because I wanted to give it a second chance. But I just couldn’t, and I can’t quite put my finger on why. Everyone else that seems to be a Diablo fan says 2 is the best in the series but I’ve bounced off of it multiple times. Like I said I do own it so I’ll probably go back to it again at some point. I at least would like to finish the single player campaign as it’s the only one I haven’t done that with.
I was heavily into MMOs when D2 came out, I think Everquest, and I really had no time to dedicate to any other game. Did play a ton of Diablo 1 and 3 and now 4. Just did a pit 100, and it didn’t really feel much harder than the lvl 89 I usually farm at. I think I will finish masterworking my gear, something I’ve somewhat ignored since a lot of it is not optimized and give uber lillith a shot. If I can take her out then I think I’ll be done for the season.
So I know this is the generally agreed on approach but I actually do the opposite. Let me explain using Hellbent Commander as the prime example.
+Skills cant be added via temper, they must be on the drop or be enchanted on. For a minion Necro Hellbent is a mandatory affix on the Amulet. It’s a massive buff and it can only show up on Amulets. +2 Hellbent is extremely rare. So what I do, and has worked decently, is I take every single Amulet that drops with at least 2 palletable stats and do 2 enchants right away because they cost next to nothing. If it doesn’t roll Hellbent +2 I vendor it. On the (very) rare occasion that it does roll I will temper it.
If I temper an item and get those perfect rolls then I’ve gotta spend massive amounts of gold hoping I can enchant the +2 skill onto the item. Saves me a ton of gold and brick-agony doing it this way.
I went the complete opposite way on amulets since they have SO many different things that can roll on them. If it doesn’t drop with the rarest stat I want (hellbent as your example on my necro) then it gets vendored, because trying to roll into it is extremely hard.
Absolutely, but the first 2 rolls are pretty much free they are super cheap so low risk/high reward. Once it gets up over like 200k gold its not worth it anymore. So in the aggregate the odds of getting a +2 Hellbent are higher overall this way because each enchantment is effectively a new amulet dropping. Yes, a bad temper or masterwork on a +2 skill amulet can leave you feeling shitty with a non-BiS but still useable item but rolling perfect tempers and masterworks on an item missing the +2 skill affix is trash and pretty much useless.
So I try to get the +2 Hellbent before tempering.
That’s a good point, the first few rerolls are nearly free. Gonna start doing that. I did use up a lot of my angelbreath on potions for leveling alts.
I will say I only think this makes sense on items that need 1 super specific affix to be useful though. On my necro the only item that has a mandatory base affix is hellbent on the amulet. I think there are some items that can have +2 Golems so maybe I would try that there but those aren’t as build defining as Hellbent on the amulet so I’m don’t get too wrapped up about it.
Oh also, you can’t trade items you’ve enchanted so if you’re looking for something tradeable this isn’t useful. I don’t really trade though so its no biggie to me. I also am not chasing GA items either. I’m not that hardcore.
Eventually every item gets super specific if you want to continue to progress.
YouTube has been putting D4 vids in my recommendations. Think I might fire it up when I’m back home. Wonder how frustrating relearning strats and itemization will be.
That’s a pretty clever idea.
Damnit.
Aww, that’s bad luck.
We haven’t tried her again, yet. I’m pretty sure we’d still get stomped.
Turns out when your DPS is high enough the most important thing is move speed, rather than defenses. Way too many one shot mechanics in that fight. I did beat her eventually, with my half assed but extremely speedy rogue instead of my easy mode barb.