Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Diablo 3: Hardcore Tips and Tricks (Part 3)

Having reached level 50 on my Monk, I think it's time for more Tips and Tricks action based off of what I've learned fighting my way through Nightmare.  It is truly a horrifying experience knowing that at any moment a group of elite mobs can roll in with some crazy combination of skills to one shot you or attempting an event/boss that was very easy in Normal is now crazy hard in Nightmare.  I've had many near death experiences on my way to 50, hopefully the following will help you avoid some of your own.

Diablo 3: Hardcore Tips and Tricks (Part 2)

1.  Know your Boss/Elite mob skills (affixes) and what they do - This becomes even more important once you reach Nightmare and beyond as Elite and Boss mobs can have combinations of skills rather then just one.  I'll point out some the devastating combinations I've come across while journeying through Nightmare...

      -Jailer & Desecrator - In short, Jailer is a move that does exactly what you'd think, it locks you in place.  Desecrator creates a "void" under you when you're hit which deals heavy damage, even to the best armored hero.  From what I've seen, Desecrator will create a void under you each time you're hit, this means if you're standing in the same place, you have the potential of having stacks of Desecrator voids under you.  This especially becomes a problem when the skill is on something like the Sand Wasps in Act 2 which shoot 3-5 smaller wasps at you.  Each hit has a chance to drop a void in addition to the HUGE damage the smaller bugs do anyway.  This, paired with Jailer can kill you quickly.  My recommended method to avoid death in this situation is try and single out the mob.  Try and kill everything around it first if it is a single boss or try and separate one or two of the elite mobs from the group.  Once they've used their Jailer skill on you, go in for the kill as the Jailer skills seems to have a longer cooldown.  Be sure to save any status ailment removing skills in case you get jailed mid fight.

     -Arcane Enchanted & Anything - Arcane Enchanted means that the mob in question has the ability to put down an orb of arcane energy which will shoot out a beam (about 5 heros wide) that will rotate clockwise or counter-clockwise and deal a TON of damage when it passes over you.  The cooldown is very short on this and can be a real problem paired with almost any other skill.  The trick to these is to know the distance and the way the beam is rotating.  You'll notice both right away, so when you see your opening, attack as quickly as you can cause the cooldown is so short, they'll just throw another one up shortly after the first expires.  The rotation of the beam is pretty slow and it will only go around once before it fades away, so picking the best time to go in isn't to difficult. 

     -Molten and Fire Chains - This one can be a real pain.  With Molten, creatures that walk around leave a trail of lava behind them that damages you.  Fire Chains will create chains between all elite mobs which damage you when you cross them.  The problem becomes that with Fire Chains, the mobs seem to move more, trying to get you into position to damage you with the chains, when this is paired with Motlen, you'll end up with a field of lava to navigate around while trying to avoid these chains.  The best thing to do here is try and focus down 1 of the elite mobs as quickly as you can.  This will reduce the effectiveness of the chains and reduce the amount of lava created.  Once the group is down to 1, the Fire Chains become a non-factor.  One thing to also note about Molten, is that this causes the mob to explode when they die, similar to maniacs.  This does a ton of damage and can be hard to see coming when you're in a large group so try to avoid killing Molten mobs while in a fight with lots of other mobs.  They'll drop a red glowing ball when they die, so if you see one, stop what you're doing and run.

   -Knockback & Mortar - If you've played any of Diablo 3, you're familiar with Knockback.  Knockback has a chance to not only throw you back, but slow your movement for a time once you land.  This paired with Mortar can be deadly.  Mortar allows mobs to fire Mortars (they look more like fireballs) that cause pretty heavy damage.  The reason this combo can hurt a lot is pretty obvious, they knock you back, you're slowed and they unload on you with Mortar, rinse and repeat.  This can be especially dangerous with ranged mobs as they can knock you back simply by hitting you with any ranged attack while hammering you with mortars.  The trick here is to get close enough that you're under the range of the Mortars, but not close enough to be knocked back (if they're not ranged) then use some ability to take them down from a short distance.

Now, these are not the only combinations that can become a problem if not handled properly.  I found a great list of all Diablo 3 Affixes and what they do here at diablo3x.com .  Look over the list and be familiar with the other skills mobs will have in Nightmare (and other difficulties) and this will save you from a lot of close calls.  Cause knowledge is power! *80s freeze frame*

2.  Always be aware of the best escape route - This is something I've become more aware of while playing Nightmare as I find myself running away more often.  There have been one or two times that been running away in a dungeon and have turned down a hallway I haven't cleared only to find myself in even more trouble then I was before.  Make sure to glance at your mini-map while falling back to be sure you're not running down a path or into an area you haven't cleared out yet.  It's not a bad idea to create escape routes prior to fights, especially if you know something difficult is coming up.  I sometimes pull a fight all the way back to the entrance of the dungeon so I can jump out of the area if things become problematic. 

3. Exploit the hell out of the Auction House - As of version 1.0.2 item drops, crafting and the Auction House are VERY broken.  What I mean is, it's a lot more difficult/expensive to find items or craft items in game then it is to just go to the Auction House and buy what you want.  It may take you 5-10 tries at the Blacksmith to get an item with the stats you're looking for whereas you can go to the Auction House and find it right there without wasting time, money and crafting materials.    You should be visiting the Auction house every 5-10 levels to purchase new gear.  You'll be plesantly surprised at what you can find on there for not a lot of gold.  This will be fixed at some point I'm sure, so use the Auction House like crazy while you still can.

4.  Sell your yellows (rares) in the Auction House - You can almost ALWAYS sell a rare in the Auction House these days.  I find that anything that is not 2-handed will sell for at least 2k.  The reason I say not 2-handed is that most people tend to avoid using 2-handed weapons in Hardcore, so they have almost no interest.  This is something that will only take a few minutes of your time and will yield a lot more gold than selling to a vendor.  If you're concerned about crafting materials, you can break down any 2-handed yellows you come across, as again, they have little value in the Auction House.  Depending on the stats on the items, I typically don't sell anything for more then 20k and I'll never set the starting bid lower then a buyout (i.e. starting bid 3000, buyout 3000).  I find that Vitality, Dexterity and Strength items tend to run a higher price but items with stats that have one stat particularly high (i.e. Vitality +40, Strength +120)  sell for a lot more than items with more even stats (i.e. Vitality +30, Strength +25, Dexterity +27).  Also, if you're playing a Wizard, you should be living in the Auction House as almost every item on there has Intelligence on it.

5.  Keep an organized Stash - This is more important if you have multiple characters.  Organizing your Stash is a great way to keep track of hand-me-down gear and keep an eye on your stock of potions/gems.  I personally have 2 pages of Stash and I keep 1 page for Gems, Potions and Crafting Materials, half of the second page for rares I plan on selling and the second half for items I'll be handing down to my lower level characters or if I should die.  Ideally, you should have 3 pages, 1 for gems, mats, etc... 1 for items you plan on selling and 1 for both hand-me-downs and a set of grinding gear (whether it be gold, exp or magical item).  Building your stash can be expensive, but avoiding the headache of trying to find that gem/ring or accidentally selling some gear you wanted to save is well worth it.

So that's it for this edition of Tips and Tricks.  Stay safe out there and remember...you're gonna die eventually :P .

Diablo 3:  Hardcore Tips and Tricks (Part 4)

2 comments:

  1. Hi,

    i like this summary. Especially your thoughts about the ah. From what i experienced lvl 10-20 items are most likely to sell. Why? I guess there are a lot more people playing normal difficulty -> thus higher request. And i also noticed that there are not much 'cheap' rings and amulets in the bidding. You can earn good money in selling them (also magical, not only rare).
    Since Vitality is the one and only stat all chars need the push from the very beginnig you can get good prices for any vitality +50 items (lvl 10-20). Except weapons i guess...

    good day! Joelunda

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  2. Yeah, I do notice that rings and amulets go for INSANE amounts of money in the AH at the moment. I think if they ever make adjustments to improve itemization, we'll see the price of those go down but until then, sell all rings and amulets for outrageous amounts of money! lol

    Thanks for reading and your comments :)

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