Diablo III: Loot 2.0

So once you've got past the 7+GB download and file 'optimisation', we now get to play with Diablo III 2.01

Notes: http://www.diablofans.com/news/47954...ch-2-0-1-notes

Anyone else had a play yet? My first impressions are that it certainly changes the feel of the game already. The file optimisation makes loading even quicker (area transitions etc. are now basically instantaneous with an SSD install). Effects etc. all load seamlessly so everything feels just that bit snappier. The new elite powers are more spammy with effects as well, so it looks all the more frantic and well, like diablo 2 really :p

Lag is still a problem though - and it's all the more noticeable when everything else is so frantic and fast. Even on a 'green' rated ping I get stutters of half a second or so at least twice every battle where the positions stop updating/effects don't fire and then it skips as it catches up.

There has been massive power inflation. Loot is better and monsters take a lot more battering before going down, to the point where I had to drop back a touch in Acts/difficulty (they've renamed the difficulty levels possibly to emphasis this point) - I was soloing on Inferno MP1/2 and now I'm back to Torment base difficulty. But I'll get used to that :) The new paragaon point scheme gives us some control over stat distribution/equivalent once more, but at the moment it's all easily resetable so doesn't feel very meaningful. Useful to tweak your build towards particular encounters though.

Apparently there are lots and lots of bugs, which doesn't surprise me - they've really ripped up most of the skill/item system and reimplemented it.

Tbh been playing it since yesterday and really enjoy the new feel. Was playing for like 3 hours and picked up 6 legendary in that time, think i got about 2 in 200 hours worth of gameplay before today. Really loving the new "Smart Loot" as it means everything better fits your current character. Only problem I've found so far is because their are now be told 10 or so difficultys and no normal nightmare etc its very hard to find a game with people in.

Hmmm might re-install D3 next week then, haven't really played the PC version since the first month it was out. I've put some hours into the Xbox version as couch coop is great with a few mates round... think not being able to dodge roll in the PC version will take getting used to again :

Loot 2.0 seems pretty good to me, although I wasn't playing for all that long. I did find an offhand weapon upgrade for my barb though - ilvl63 Pig Sticker. The yellow gear dropping was very noticeably better than gear of old, playing self-found only is actually viable now (without a ridiculous grind) - down with the AH!

I think the best change though is the new "toughness" stat, which is just another name for EHP (Effective HitPoints). Average amount of damage you can take before dying, taking into account resistances/armour/dodge/block/health.

Trying to work out if an item was an upgrade wasn't always easy before, for example if an item had less vitality, but more armour and all resist it was a pain to work out, now it tells you the percentage change to your "toughness" and damage.

Now I need to look up how the difficulty levels affect drop rates of keys/organs for Infernal Machine runs. Torment II is pretty good for me, but Torment III is a bit slow going. Hopefully Torment II will have a decent drop rate on Infernal Machine parts!

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Originally Posted by Dooms

think not being able to dodge roll in the PC version will take getting used to again :

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Play demon hunter(ess) then ;)

I really hope they do re-balance the game. My main character is a lvl60 Demon Hunter with higher Paragon levels(above 30 before the update). I ended up having to play as a tank DH in the end since at higher MP settings(above 5) the packs were a problem in more confined spaces,as were the Infernal Machine quests at higher drop chances.

I was within the top 15000 in Europe for overall survivability by the time I stopped playing. Even when changing over to higher DPS gear,it really did not make a big difference in fending off packs. Having played with some other people who had very high level Demon Hunters,it was the same - a lot of us had to invest time into survivability builds. I just found the balance effed up.

Compared that to Path of Exile where the balance is far better.

If it means the DH is even more gimped while still being a piece of glass,I not going to be bothered anymore. The DH seriously needs its power back,especially when you are in groups and the tanks don't do their job properly! ;)

Well the tank role is nicely covered by the expansion character when that comes out (which I won't be getting for a while). DH was only a bit glassy for me (similar level to yours) - was all about mobility and crowd control which is fun.

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Originally Posted by kalniel

Well the tank role is nicely covered by the expansion character when that comes out (which I won't be getting for a while). DH was only a bit glassy for me (similar level to yours) - was all about mobility and crowd control which is fun.

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The problem was in places were mobility was limited,and I was playing with some people who had 60+ Paragon levels. I made sure I had decent crowd control stats too,and experimented with loads of builds,ie,emphasising armour,or health or DPS,or crowd control or elite damage reduction, etc.The DH was horribly balanced in D3 and its only when I played other games with ranged characters like PoE that I realised how bad it was. On top of this PoE just has a better thought out skills tree too.

The DH is all about power,ie,glass cannon, and kiting around,and ultimately it went from being powerful at the beginning to being bloody nerfed at the end. If you want to run away from packs all the time,it is not viable to always do that,but ultimately the DH is meant to support the Barbs who tank and when they don't do their job properly,its bloody annoying especially in D3.

Blizzard screwed over the balance everytime it released new patches. I don't have much faith in them ATM,especially with £30 for one level,although I have seen it cheaper.

I didn't like WoW and I lost interest in SC2,and even though D3 was fun and very polished,Blizzard will need to do more to keep me as a customer.

I just hope this new patch has rebalanced things better.

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

but ultimately the DH is meant to support the Barbs who tank and when they don't do their job properly,its bloody annoying especially in D3.

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Diablo 3 doesn't have the traditional MMO tank/dps/healer setup - most mobs tend to go for whoever's closest and that's about the extent of it. Barbs (and/or other classes) don't have increased threat generation to hold aggro and there are no taunts (well threatening shout sort of, but it's terrible and never used).
It's not that barbs aren't doing their job, it's that it's not their job (the job doesn't exist) and they don't have the tools to do it!

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Originally Posted by Bagnaj97

Diablo 3 doesn't have the traditional MMO tank/dps/healer setup - most mobs tend to go for whoever's closest and that's about the extent of it. Barbs (and/or other classes) don't have increased threat generation to hold aggro and there are no taunts (well threatening shout sort of, but it's terrible and never used).
It's not that barbs aren't doing their job, it's that it's not their job (the job doesn't exist) and they don't have the tools to do it!

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Which makes the way the game is balanced even more meh,considering that the balance of the classes is pretty much more like an MMO. I have seen the kind of gear the higher DPS Demon Hunters were using and it was silly expensive. I have done 4 Demon Hunter runs on higher MP levels(5 to 7),and it was bad enough even with people having decent gear. However, its addtionally annoying when people just run ahead leaving the rest of the group fending off most of the other people(the enemies will scale up to the group).

It also makes me think the Barb is probably the best class for the game last time I played it properly,ie, around 9 months ago.

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

Which makes the way the game is balanced even more meh,considering that the balance of the classes is pretty much more like an MMO. I have seen the kind of gear the higher DPS Demon Hunters were using and it was silly expensive. I have done 4 Demon Hunter runs on higher MP levels(5 to 7),and it was bad enough even with people having decent gear.

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Well the nice thing is it's PvE so balance between classes doesn't really matter.

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However, its addtionally annoying when people just run ahead leaving the rest of the group fending off most of the other people(the enemies will scale up to the group).

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As a DH you should never be left behind, being the fastest, most mobile class. Just follow the runners :p

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Originally Posted by kalniel

Well the nice thing is it's PvE so balance between classes doesn't really matter.

As a DH you should never be left behind, being the fastest, most mobile class. Just follow the runners :p

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Not when the rest of the team are being screwed over. We should be supporting each other in groups,otherwise it kind of defeats the point.

But the DH has been mucked around with too much by Blizzard. At the start it was overpowered but since people complained about it,they have gone the other way. The Barb(at least last year),seemed to be the best kind of character for higher MP levels. Like I said,in places you cannot run,you tend to screwed and crowd control only does so much. However,I don't find the Barb that interesting.

I will give it a try once its finished downloading to see what the balance is ATM.

If you've got a bad group then all you can do is change group. Same in most games to be fair.

Just got an email from Blizz about the new changes so I thought I'd login and take a look for the first time in over a year.

a 7gb patch!!! don't think I'll be seeing the new changes tonight

The changes are fantastic... but the major issue now is that if you have a kick a$$ character .. you cant progress gear wise, UNLESS... you guessed it.. you buy RoS!
Nothing lvl 60 that drops will replace a decked out toon. Might hold off on RoS for a bit.. till i get my Titanfall fill!

I would love to get ROS for an expansion cost of around $20 bucks. I guess they feel they deserve more money because they are going to shut down there cash cow soon.

Biggest difference as far as the update goes is that my existing Barb and Demon Hunter do feel stronger for sure. The loot drops feel more like a free to play game now. It is hard to explain that statement. I may play some more alter and try to find the words. But it just seems like they took away the magic lol.