Heaven vs. Hell: Classes

Hey everyone, it's time for my first installment of my "Heaven vs. Hell" post, which is basically all about the pros & cons of different topics. So this post is going to be about Character Classes.

Let's get started with the repeat offender;  

Barbarian

Heaven

• Can use certain 2 handed weapons in 1 hand
• Can be a tank; can handle more abuse than others
• Can use shouts to improve attacks or scare enemies

Hell

• Fury used for skills diminishes over time
• Attacks are slower than other classes by default
• Little to no magic affinity

Being the returning class from the previous Diablo adventures, it looks like the Barbarian is once again going to be the go-to class for those who are new to Diablo 3, the class is quite adaptable to any player.  The barb can be built simply for the nubs, while the build can also get quite complex for the 12-hour a day player as well.  The barb also has quite a cookie-cutter and predictable play style, the class has a limited range as far as playability as well, unless of course you get into the extremely unique builds, throw barbs for Diablo 2, for example.

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Demon Hunter

Heaven

• Ranged attacker, keeps out of the battle
• Can set traps to slow, damage and stun enemies
• Quite a few ranged options for attacking

Hell

• Can't take a lot of direct or melee damage

• Class has to balance between 2 different pools for skills
• Not particularly stronger with phyiscal strength or magic

 The Demon Hunter is basically a combination of the Amazon and Assassin classes from Diablo 2.  Firing multiple arrows, setting traps, tossing grenades or blowing up enemies from a distance still remains this classes specialty.  the Demon Hunter's speed and ranged damage is a lot of times under-estimated, and one of your best allies in any battle you enter with this class.  Be careful to stay out of combat as much as possible, getting surrounded or stunned will easily spell the end for your Demon Hunter.  Also, make sure you're keeping a close eye on your Hatred and Discipline, as this class has a shared skill pool, which can become quite tedious.

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Monk

Heaven

• Speed is paramount; the Monk is very quick
• Can deal quite a bit of damage using combos
• Mantras are quite helpful passive skills with many uses

Hell

• Very gear-dependant class, damage is item-based
• Will have trouble in PVP due to slows, snares, etc.
• Will be in danger often, you must deal damage in close

The Monk is quick, versatile, and can pack quite a punch. Mantras are very useful to the Monk, increasing healing, dealing extra damage, or adding other useful power-ups.  Combos will enable the Monk to deal that extra damage to enemies or enemy groups, groups that would be very challenging to single players are that much easier for the Monk.  This class will not be very useful for PVP, opponents snaring, slowing or trapping the Monk will spell certain death.  If you don't have the gear to support this class, it could spell trouble for your Monk as well.

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Witch Doctor

Heaven

• Spellcasting is a staple of the Witch Doctor
• Summons and mind control are quite powerful
• Able to stay out of combat, taking minimal damage

Hell

• Physically weak; can't hit for much damage or take hits
• Relies on mana pool quite a bit
• Must have +% spell damage modifiers mid-late game

The Witch Doctor is a very powerful spellcaster with the ability to summon without corpses and add certain modifiers to his/her summons like plague or fire.  With these spells and summons, the witch doctor will be able to stay out of direct damage most of the time.  If you do not have enough items which add spell damage while progressing through the game, you will begin to find life as a Witch Doctor much more difficult.  Being physically weak, you will need to stay out of the fight as often as possible, as you will not be able to take much damage or hit for much damage either.

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Wizard

Heaven

• Wizard has a wide variety of spells
• Very powerful timed and untimed spells
• Has a few melee possibilities as well as spells

Hell

• Will not be able to take much physical damage
• Most spells seem to use quite a bit of the mana pool
• Must have +% spell damage modifiers mid-late game

The Wizard looks like quite a powerful caster with a wide range of spells, contrary to the 3 spell types of Diablo 2.  Teleport makes its triumphant return to Diablo 3, this skill may make it possible once again for a class susceptible to botting, which could be good or bad depending on how you look at it.  The fact that the Wizard has the ability to use spells for ranged or melee attacks will help quite a bit as well.  Just like any other mostly ranged spellcaster, the Wizard will not be able to take much physical damage or stay right in the thick of battle for very long.  It also seems another downfall of the Wizard will be managing your mana pool and making sure that you leave enough to spare for your daring escape!

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That's about it for this week's edition of Heaven vs. Hell, hopefully with all of this information you'll be able to make a much more informed decision about which class you will be starting your Diablo 3 career with. I look forward to your comments as to what topic I should cover for next week!

Diablo 3 systems changes

Hey everyone, as my first Diablo 3 related post, I'd like to touch on the post made by Jay Wilson on January 19th about systems changes. Let's start right at the beginning:

"Let's start off small: Scrolls of Identification are no longer in the game."
Sounds like a great idea to me, you no longer need a physical item taking up inventory space to identify your item.  Some would say what's the point of having to identify your item at all? I personally think it's much better to be able to unwrap that nice gift left by the super-unique monster you just decapitated to see just how epic the drop is!

""We're also moving the fifth quick slot button, which is becoming a dedicated potion button."

Not much to say here, a dedicated potion button is definitely not a bad thing, this way you don't have to take stock of how long you'll be able to last before charging into battle. The info right there in front of your face, so jump right in the thick of it!

"We're removing the mystic artisan."

This seems like a good idea to me, as currently the mystic seems like a glorified horadric cube as an NPC. I think she needs more fine tuning and a bit more polish, although I can see Blizzard incorporating the mystic into the Diablo 3 expansion when it's released.

"We've decided to remove the Cauldron of Jordan and Nephalem Cube.  The Blacksmith artisan will now salvage items."

I understand the thought process behind the removal of these features and that Blizzard is trying to break up the combat, have people return to town more often, interact with the NPC's and get used to the town they currently call home.  Also with the addition of the Stone of Recall/Town Portal, there is not as much need for the removed items.  Conversely though, I don't think Blizzard needs to worry so much about people taking breaks and removing themselves from combat, in-game reasons for breaks in Diablo 3 include repairing, upgrading, crafting, selling and stashing items.  There are also enough other reasons for breaks outside of the regular in-game issues; bathroom breaks, smoking, phone calls, letting out your dog, etc. are all other reasons people will be stopping their massacre.  Basically, there are arguments both ways for the removal of the Cauldron and Cube.

"Common (white) items will no longer be salvageable."

Blizzard's philosophy on this change is basically that worthless items dropping makes the rare or legendary item drops that much more exciting.  I'm sorry to say that even a shiny, polished turd is still a turd.  In other words, even if people do think it's more exciting to dig through crap to pick up that one shiny rare, the crap is still just that - crap.  My belief is still if the white items are worthless, don't bother having them drop at all.  At least even in the world of Diablo 2, some white items would still be useful for runewords for example.  Make those whites useful somehow!

"We're changing core character attributes to Strength, Dexterity, Intellect, and Vitality."

Strength: +Barbarian damage, +Armor

Dexterity: +Demon Hunter damage, +Monk damage, +Dodge

Intellect: +Wizard damage, +Witch Doctor damage, +Health from globes

Vitality: +Health

So basically, we're looking at the same attribute customization as Diablo 2.  You're going to have the default character builds once again.  For example: Barbarians pumping strength and vitality.  All of your customization as far as builds go will once again all be based on skills and items.

"We're now displaying character stats directly on the Inventory UI (User Interface)."

Not too much to say here, though it might seem a little cluttered, this is a great improvement, no more toggling between your inventory and character screens!  Simply switch the item in your inventory with the item you currently have equipped to see the bonuses you'll be receiving instantly.

"We're also working on a number of other large systems changes -- specifically with the skill and runes systems.  We're not quite ready to share what those are just yet."

Well, looks like that's the last of the current system changes!  Hopefully we'll receive word of what exactly those changes are sooner rather than later, but I don't see these changes putting any major delays on the projected release as most, if not all of these changes have already been tested and implemented.  Hopefully we'll be seeing some more updates very shortly!

Diablo 3 site under maintenance

Hey all! I was going to check out the forums on Blizzard's Diablo 3 website but it looks like I'll have to wait until tomorrow, this is what I found when I went to http://us.battle.net/d3/ and this is what I found: 

"We’ll be back soon!

The Blizzard family of websites is currently undergoing maintenance to improve your browsing experience. Thank you for your patience!" 

This is most likely just for aesthetics, but here's hoping us hardcore Diablo 3 fans will have some news to wake up to!

Greetings Strangers!

Hey everyone, Diablo Guy here! Welcome to my blog where you can find any and all news relating to the Diablo Universe! Being the first post, I would like to tell you a little bit about myself.  I'm 26 years old and live in Ontario, Canada.  I've been playing video games since I was 5 and I've been deep in the Diablo universe since the release of Diablo 2.  I have been waiting for the release of Diablo 3 since about 2 days after the release of Diablo 2!  You'll be able to get a ton of info here on everything relating to Diablo 3, including but not limited to; system changes, beta testing, characters, gameplay, items and of course release date!  I'd love to hear any other suggestions if anyone would like to see any other topics up here, look forward to some more reading very shortly, and you can follow me on twitter at @TheDiabloGuy, look forward to some more reading very soon!