The Moment Diablo Died
Discussion
Loyly said:
Well, it's pretty deep. If you're after something lightweight maybe give Fortnite a go?
On the matter of controls, it's incredibly sleek and fast. The gameplay is very fast, it's really fast and action orientated so you do have to be quick at the keys or pad in the high pressure battles. The graphics are excellent though it's not worth playing if your PC is crap (some users can't fight certain bosses or certain maps because their PC's lock up when the boss attacks trigger massive graphical effects, Uber Atziri and the Pale Council being notable for this).
I think the graphics are excellent. The game has a unique look, blending Roman Empire-esque aesthetic with a Maori look. It's dark and violent, but the colour palette is extensive and the spell and attack effects are impressive, particularly on an endgame build with multi-cast. I'd recommend turning enemy life bars on so you can revel in the sheer numbers being crunched when you melt a massive mob.
The currency system was something I initially disliked. This ties in with the barter system. Loot can be sold to vendors in game for low value (shards of low tier orbs). To realise the true value of an item, you need to list it for sale in your stash, and other players will send you offers for it. You click to sell and they get the item, you get the currency. It works well enough and the PC version is supported by external trade tools. I think the developers will eventually add more trade tools into the game.
The benefit of their being no single currency is that you can't just mindlessly grind for gold like in WoW or Diablo. You never know when an exalted orb will drop, and every currency item in the game, from armourer's scrap up to a Mirror of Kalandra can be traded for or dropped in game. I usually buy up currency after the midpoint in a league.
All of the currency has a specific function in the game world. You can treat them as simple denominations in a tiered system or use them to craft. Essentially, this gives the currency purpose outside of just being money and means they retain an intrinsic value. There can be no Stone of Jordan economy due to this. Similarly, there are no potions in the game. Flasks function as potions and their charges are replenished through combat. This saves you endlessly pickup up dropped potions or having to return to town to play more. The whole game is full of streamlining like this designed to push you towards aggressive play and smashing map after map.
It's not dull or grindy because the next delicioud upgrade is always just within reach and the game really hits it's stride when you start 'mapping' (endgame content). There is ten chapter story which is excellently written which you must play through at the start of each league. For an experienced player, this isn't a long grind but it's the grindiest bit of the game if you've done it before. But it's still fun and engaging.
I've only played about 300 odd hours with aboht 540,000 kills but I absolutely love it. It's up there with Bloodborne as my joint favourite game of all time.
Lol not sure if the Fortnite reference was a veiled dig. I've tried a few of the Battle Royale type games and while they can be fun in small doses, I don't get really get all the hype plus they are a totally different genre to ARPG's. Besides I'm getting old and my reflexes aren't what they used to be so the FPS's have had to take a back burner and I prefer slightly more cerebral games these days.On the matter of controls, it's incredibly sleek and fast. The gameplay is very fast, it's really fast and action orientated so you do have to be quick at the keys or pad in the high pressure battles. The graphics are excellent though it's not worth playing if your PC is crap (some users can't fight certain bosses or certain maps because their PC's lock up when the boss attacks trigger massive graphical effects, Uber Atziri and the Pale Council being notable for this).
I think the graphics are excellent. The game has a unique look, blending Roman Empire-esque aesthetic with a Maori look. It's dark and violent, but the colour palette is extensive and the spell and attack effects are impressive, particularly on an endgame build with multi-cast. I'd recommend turning enemy life bars on so you can revel in the sheer numbers being crunched when you melt a massive mob.
The currency system was something I initially disliked. This ties in with the barter system. Loot can be sold to vendors in game for low value (shards of low tier orbs). To realise the true value of an item, you need to list it for sale in your stash, and other players will send you offers for it. You click to sell and they get the item, you get the currency. It works well enough and the PC version is supported by external trade tools. I think the developers will eventually add more trade tools into the game.
The benefit of their being no single currency is that you can't just mindlessly grind for gold like in WoW or Diablo. You never know when an exalted orb will drop, and every currency item in the game, from armourer's scrap up to a Mirror of Kalandra can be traded for or dropped in game. I usually buy up currency after the midpoint in a league.
All of the currency has a specific function in the game world. You can treat them as simple denominations in a tiered system or use them to craft. Essentially, this gives the currency purpose outside of just being money and means they retain an intrinsic value. There can be no Stone of Jordan economy due to this. Similarly, there are no potions in the game. Flasks function as potions and their charges are replenished through combat. This saves you endlessly pickup up dropped potions or having to return to town to play more. The whole game is full of streamlining like this designed to push you towards aggressive play and smashing map after map.
It's not dull or grindy because the next delicioud upgrade is always just within reach and the game really hits it's stride when you start 'mapping' (endgame content). There is ten chapter story which is excellently written which you must play through at the start of each league. For an experienced player, this isn't a long grind but it's the grindiest bit of the game if you've done it before. But it's still fun and engaging.
I've only played about 300 odd hours with aboht 540,000 kills but I absolutely love it. It's up there with Bloodborne as my joint favourite game of all time.
PoE sounds like it might be fun and it's free so I'll give it a go. I have a decent enough PC running a 980ti so should run fine. It's also coming out on PS4 soon so I can play it with a couple of my non PC owning console buddies like we did with Diablo.
I'm still not convinced about the currency\barter system though. I despise having to interact with strangers to sell stuff, I don't even sell stuff on ebay IRL let alone doing it in a pretend version in a computer game. It's just not something that interests me I'm afraid.
Hoofy said:
Bizarre. For two reasons.
2) Who the hell is that much of a fan to go to a "con" like this??? To give you an idea of how much I enjoy Diablo, I was playing D2 last night for 2 hours as I build up another character. I still wouldn't go to such an event. Weird.
Clearly a lot of people.2) Who the hell is that much of a fan to go to a "con" like this??? To give you an idea of how much I enjoy Diablo, I was playing D2 last night for 2 hours as I build up another character. I still wouldn't go to such an event. Weird.
Edited by Hoofy on Monday 12th November 20:02
Many will play online with friends and then use Blizcon to meet f2f and have a catch up.
We used to attend f2f competitive LANs for counterstrike.Lots of gaming and also lots of time spent at the bar with all our mates. Great times. Geek central but great times.
Steven_RW said:
Hoofy said:
Bizarre. For two reasons.
2) Who the hell is that much of a fan to go to a "con" like this??? To give you an idea of how much I enjoy Diablo, I was playing D2 last night for 2 hours as I build up another character. I still wouldn't go to such an event. Weird.
Clearly a lot of people.2) Who the hell is that much of a fan to go to a "con" like this??? To give you an idea of how much I enjoy Diablo, I was playing D2 last night for 2 hours as I build up another character. I still wouldn't go to such an event. Weird.
Edited by Hoofy on Monday 12th November 20:02
Many will play online with friends and then use Blizcon to meet f2f and have a catch up.
We used to attend f2f competitive LANs for counterstrike.Lots of gaming and also lots of time spent at the bar with all our mates. Great times. Geek central but great times.
There are a few people I have played with on BF3 that I'd have had a pint or 3 with.
Guvernator said:
PoE sounds like it might be fun and it's free so I'll give it a go. I have a decent enough PC running a 980ti so should run fine. It's also coming out on PS4 soon so I can play it with a couple of my non PC owning console buddies like we did with Diablo.
I'm still not convinced about the currency\barter system though. I despise having to interact with strangers to sell stuff, I don't even sell stuff on ebay IRL let alone doing it in a pretend version in a computer game. It's just not something that interests me I'm afraid.
I play it on the Xbox One X and it works really well on a pad, so the PS4 should work well. The graphics engine does a neat trick of scaling back the resolution when it gets really hectic to keep the frames flowing. This was more noticeable when I first played on the basic Xbox One, and when I started the Harbinger league was active so every map had at least one ultra-chaotic mob rush fight whenever you found a Harbinger. I would recommend buying a couple of stash tabs for holding gear, along with currency, maps, cards, fragments and essence tabs. That lot won't cost much, they transfer between leagues and characters and can't be lost or deleted. They make the game a hundred times better to play and are a must if you want to ger serious.I'm still not convinced about the currency\barter system though. I despise having to interact with strangers to sell stuff, I don't even sell stuff on ebay IRL let alone doing it in a pretend version in a computer game. It's just not something that interests me I'm afraid.
Regarding the currency and bartering, you'll just have to trust me when I say it's great. Unlike limitless gold farming, you can't put a timer on accumulation rates or when rare currency will drop. Therefore, there are no usless gold sinks to slow your progression (no weapon and armour degradation, potions to buy etc). All the currency has a use and a value and you can trade for it. All the trading is done in game through a trade menu and there is no interaction with other players when trading unless you interact with someone in a hub. I've bought and sold hundreds of items and rarely get so much as a message when doing so.
Beware price fixers though. Whilst the PoE system isn't open to blatant cheating and scamming Diablo 2 was, there are still some schmucks trying to make a quick buck. It's worth getting a rough price check on any uniques or divination cards before you sell them. You can't really go wrong though.
It's certainly not a game for everyone. I have a couple of friends who have tried it. Some of my more casual friends have struggled to get into it. It doesn't play itself like Diablo 3. I am going to buy a new PC next year but it'll be hard for me to leave the Xbox game behind.
So, fellow PoE players, what builds do you play?
I played the Harbinger league as a multi-strike Molten Strike duellist. It was my first league (Harbinger) and I didn't use a guide, or know anything about the game so I got nowhere in mapping (I had low life, awful resistances and high DPS and DOT). That character was a write off but still exists unspecced in Standard league with loads of currency.
I used a freezing spark Templar on Incursion league, which worked out great. I used a Lifesprig wand and a good stat shield. The Ligesprig boosted my regen along with some leech to make sure I was always topped up with health. The guide I used called for Mind Over Matter but I didn't take it. My freezing spark used a radial cast from a unique gem, and provided a 360° ķill zone of buzzing projectiles. Each frozen enemy that died exploded like a grenade for extra AOE damage. It was a great build, very powerful but vulnerable on Elemental Reflect maps. I used Vaal Blade Vortex on those.
My current build is Engineering Eternity's
t h i c c Jugg tank. I'm using a six linked (all red) Astral Plate for Cleave, and Ahn's Might along with an offhand rare stat-sword. The original build called for a Belly of the Beast six link, which is very expensive on Xbox, and cheaper dual Ichimonji swords. I had went up to tier 8 mapping with an Innsbury Edge sword. Hugely underrated, it attacks so fast and with so much accuracy. It's like a razor! I only swapped it out when I realised I was starting to lose time against mobs on deeper Delve levels, where DPS is important if you don't want to lose the crawler. Ahn's Might was two exalts well spent, it's slower than the Innsbury Edge but deals massive damage. I've stacked that with a Basalt Flask and an Atziri unique flast for even more peak DPS uptime. A set of Haemophiliac gloves provides a 'bleeding enemies explode for 5% health AOE on death' similar to the Duellist Gladiator ascendancy. This really helps to create a domino effect in bigger mobs and I'm supported by a Culling Strike Ancestral Warchief and Flame Golem for attack speed.
Overall, I understand this build far better than I did the others, hence I went a little off-piste from the build guide to prop up my delve ability. It's not a great delve build as it's based around facetanking massive hits and leeching back against them, whilst wearing down bosses with DOT from stacked bleed and poison. I have supplimented my DPS with a Herald of Agony so far as my DEX lets me, that thing is awesome and has been the cornerstone of a few top Delve builds.
I am looking forward to seeing what the Betrayal league brings. It has it's work cut out. I thought the Incursion league was kind of crappy as the chances of dropping a stone of passage was entirely down to luck and clear speed. It was fun but irritating. Delve on the otber hand, synergised so well with mapping and it was easy and cheap to find paths that gave masses of XP and loot. Enemy density was off the charts at good nodes. I know Delve and Incursion are coming to the base game as part of next major update (and no-more levelling masters, yes!) but I think players will be hungry for permanent, unfettered Delve access. I think this league will have a massive knock on for currency values in Standard league as there will be tonnes of rare uniques and high value currency dumped into standard when the Delve closes for good.
I played the Harbinger league as a multi-strike Molten Strike duellist. It was my first league (Harbinger) and I didn't use a guide, or know anything about the game so I got nowhere in mapping (I had low life, awful resistances and high DPS and DOT). That character was a write off but still exists unspecced in Standard league with loads of currency.
I used a freezing spark Templar on Incursion league, which worked out great. I used a Lifesprig wand and a good stat shield. The Ligesprig boosted my regen along with some leech to make sure I was always topped up with health. The guide I used called for Mind Over Matter but I didn't take it. My freezing spark used a radial cast from a unique gem, and provided a 360° ķill zone of buzzing projectiles. Each frozen enemy that died exploded like a grenade for extra AOE damage. It was a great build, very powerful but vulnerable on Elemental Reflect maps. I used Vaal Blade Vortex on those.
My current build is Engineering Eternity's
t h i c c Jugg tank. I'm using a six linked (all red) Astral Plate for Cleave, and Ahn's Might along with an offhand rare stat-sword. The original build called for a Belly of the Beast six link, which is very expensive on Xbox, and cheaper dual Ichimonji swords. I had went up to tier 8 mapping with an Innsbury Edge sword. Hugely underrated, it attacks so fast and with so much accuracy. It's like a razor! I only swapped it out when I realised I was starting to lose time against mobs on deeper Delve levels, where DPS is important if you don't want to lose the crawler. Ahn's Might was two exalts well spent, it's slower than the Innsbury Edge but deals massive damage. I've stacked that with a Basalt Flask and an Atziri unique flast for even more peak DPS uptime. A set of Haemophiliac gloves provides a 'bleeding enemies explode for 5% health AOE on death' similar to the Duellist Gladiator ascendancy. This really helps to create a domino effect in bigger mobs and I'm supported by a Culling Strike Ancestral Warchief and Flame Golem for attack speed.
Overall, I understand this build far better than I did the others, hence I went a little off-piste from the build guide to prop up my delve ability. It's not a great delve build as it's based around facetanking massive hits and leeching back against them, whilst wearing down bosses with DOT from stacked bleed and poison. I have supplimented my DPS with a Herald of Agony so far as my DEX lets me, that thing is awesome and has been the cornerstone of a few top Delve builds.
I am looking forward to seeing what the Betrayal league brings. It has it's work cut out. I thought the Incursion league was kind of crappy as the chances of dropping a stone of passage was entirely down to luck and clear speed. It was fun but irritating. Delve on the otber hand, synergised so well with mapping and it was easy and cheap to find paths that gave masses of XP and loot. Enemy density was off the charts at good nodes. I know Delve and Incursion are coming to the base game as part of next major update (and no-more levelling masters, yes!) but I think players will be hungry for permanent, unfettered Delve access. I think this league will have a massive knock on for currency values in Standard league as there will be tonnes of rare uniques and high value currency dumped into standard when the Delve closes for good.
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