General Tips for harder difficulties

As Blizzard have said, the real game or Diablo 3 experience starts to begin on the higher difficulties after normal mode. In line with it, here are some general tips to follow:

1) Do not rush in the act (unless the player is already level 60 or have a plan like Azmodan farming*)

After completing normal mode, many players just tend to go berserk and rush into everything as they think their new goal is to reach inferno as fast as possible. As such, they all try to skip enemies, run through the act without really killing anything. Rushing through an act lets players lose a handful of experience, gold, possibly good items and achievements. I believe it would be in the players' best interest to hit level 60 faster for unlocking all skills and passives, have more gold and items rather than not.

2) Check each champion/elite monster group's abilities before engaging them

Players should be more cautious in higher difficulties when engaging champion and elite monster groups. They are now a significant threat rather than just another easy kill found in the dungeon or map. Often times I see players just rolling through the dungeon and not being cautious of the elite attributes and suddenly they die because they failed to check that the champion pack was vortex, waller, plagued, and frozen. Dying sets the players back with gold and time, and I can testify that everyone will spend a lot of their gold and time dying in inferno difficulty.

3) Increase the levels of the jeweler and blacksmith artisans

This is a good investment for higher difficulties as most of the gems and equipment that the player would have will come here. There is really no disadvantage of leveling these artisans other than losing gold and some pages, tomes (used for higher artisan levels) which are all easily obtainable again. As an additional note, I believe all characters of the same type (hardcore or softcore) made in an account share the same blacksmith and jeweler levels so it is kind of like a one time investment.

4) Use the auction house

This is probably one of the best tips I can give for players who are already at the higher difficulties. Using the auction house allows the players to get more items for themselves, find good bargains, and sell their unwanted items for more gold. All it takes is just to familiarize themselves with how the auction house works and spend a little time in the auction house.

5) Strike a balance between defensive and offensive skills

I cannot really give everyone the best skill build for each class as there are numerous viable builds in higher difficulties. Striking a balance between offensive an defensive skills would be the best way to go for higher difficulties as it allows the players to survive and do good damage output as well. It would be best for the players to find out what builds they like and how they plan to mix and match skills.

*azmodan farming is running azmodan and going to act 4 in nightmare difficulty and resetting that quest again and again as it provides a good amount of experience.

These are all the tips for now. I will continue these general tips in another post. Readers and viewers can submit their tips also at the comments below. Have fun playing Diablo 3.

Kiting 101

No matter how much hitpoints you have or high damage you do, I believe that kiting monsters especially champion packs become an invaluable skill to be learned by ranged classes. If you don’t have the slightest idea of what I’m talking about, then reading this post will give you the answer.

Kiting is basically a hit-and-run technique used by players who are more often than not ranged classes. One basically hits the monster once, maybe twice or as many times so long as the monster is still at a distance. When the monster starts closing the gap between it and the player, the player simply walks away again and repeats the process. The advantage of using this technique against champion mobs is that it allows the ranged character class to minimize the damage the champion mobs and minions to do them while still dealing damage and eventually killing the whole monster group without really taking lethal hits or deaths.

In Diablo 3, all monsters can be kited (yes even ranged monsters can be although it would be more challenging since you need to dodge projectiles while kiting). As such it is advantageous for ranged classes especially those who are in higher difficulties (nightmare, hell, inferno) to learn kiting as they naturally have lower survivability in terms of total hitpoints and armor.

In order to kite successfully, there are five things that you would probably want to consider or need in the battle against the hordes of monsters from the burning hells.

 1 – Movement impairing ability (i.e. traps for demon hunters)

Movement impairing abilities can help ranged classes kite easier because the slower the enemy moves; the easier it is to hit and run away from them. This is especially true for mobs that don’t have the fast affix. 

2 – Distance widening ability (i.e. teleport for wizards)

Distance widening abilities can make kiting more successful as they instantly widen the gap between the monsters and the ranged class, as such when something goes wrong (even internet connection issues), the player can still kite like a boss. Combining distance widening abilities and movement impairing abilities will make kiting definitely easy for newbies and veterans a like.

3 – Movement speed increase from equipment or skills (i.e. spirit walk for witch doctors)

If the player moves faster than the enemy, hit and running would be easier.

4 – Obstacles (i.e. rock formations)

If the player is kiting monsters especially those that move quite fast, finding obstacles would allow the ranged classes to temporarily slow the enemy for a second or so and this is all the time you need to run farther. Since monsters generally chase you in a straight line, having obstacles breaks this pathing hence making them a bit slow. Sometimes going around obstacles again and again would help against fast monsters. Take a little care and caution when using obstacles in kiting as they can potentially work against the player too.

5 – Awareness (i.e. kiting monsters to “safe” places)

Having awareness is important when kiting as the player does not want to go in bad places such as dead ends or areas that are not yet explored. Getting stuck in a corner or drawing more monster aggression to the player while kiting will more or less make matters worse for the player and could ultimately lead to their deaths. 

Note that the first four things can be optional to some, but for many if not all, it would be a requirement to kite easier, safer and more successfully. Do share other tips with regards to kiting in the comments below. Have fun and happy kiting.

General Tips for dealing with Monster Affixes

In this post, I will try to give out few general tips that players can try when fighting with monsters with certain affixes. These tips can easily help those that are having problems in higher difficulties as monsters spawn with multiple affixes.

Arcane Enchanted – One of the easiest ways to defeat these kinds of monsters is to simply lure them away from their sentries. Once they place their sentries, the player can simply move a bit out of range of the rotating sentries and you can continue to attack them. Without their sentries, they are simply monsters with more arcane resistance and damage. It is also important to consider that some obstacles such as rock formations block the rotating beams completely. It could be advantageous for the player to use these obstacles so that you do not need to run away from the sentries frequently.

Avenger – For those that are having trouble dealing with avenger type monsters, I suggest lowering all of the monsters hitpoints down to a very low amount before finishing them off. As such, their increased damage after one of the monsters died will only last for a very short while.

Desecrator – Quite similar to arcane enchanted monsters, desecrator types of monsters only become difficult if the player does not move around. Once they have casted their reddish void, the player can simply move to another spot without it and continue fighting. A thing to note though is that the void takes around 1 or 2 seconds before the player starts taking damage.

Electrified – This type of monster affix  back in Diablo 2 was a bane to all classes both ranged and melee alike, but in Diablo 3, the bolts move quite a bit slower and can easily be dodged from a safe distance. As for melee classes, there is not anything much that the player can do but to absorb some of the bolts and maybe use a potion or two in between fighting. I believe all classes have some form of damage mitigating skill and it would be best to use it against electrified monsters so the player does not really need to mind all of the charged bolts that get discharged. Having a higher lightning resistance will also prove useful in dealing with these monsters.

Extra Health – These monsters are not really a problem, but they can start getting frustrating with other affixes the monsters can spawn with (i.e. extra health, shielding). As such, two easy ways in dealing with these types of monsters would be dealing more damage with skills or equipment and moving to a safe distance in order to wait for skill cooldowns. There is no shame in running away from the monster for a short time in order to wait for the cooldown of skills, I believe all classes would require such a tactic especially on higher difficulties as the monsters start to become tougher.   

Fast – These monsters are a bane to ranged classes as they render the ability of ranged classes to kite useless unless they are naturally a slow moving monster (i.e. mallet lord, zombies). The best way to deal with these kinds of monsters would be to stun them and do enough damage to them while they are stunned. If the player does not have stun skills, the next best thing to do is to use the environment to your advantage. For example, the player can simply lead these fast monsters to a narrow doorway and stop in front of it thereby only allowing one or two of the monsters to attack at the same time.

Fire Chains – Fire chained monsters start to get frustrating when pair with the fast affix. I believe all classes who get tagged by the fire chains will suffer severe damage over time in the span of seconds. It would be best to try and disable one of the monsters or kill one of them in order to reduce the effectiveness of the fire chains. After killing all but one of the monsters with fire chains, the affix becomes useless.

Frozen – Having an escape skill or an invulnerability skill is a very handy way to deal with monsters that spawn with frozen affix as it simply allows the player to avoid getting frozen and damaged by the orbs that explode. If the player does not have an escape skill, it is important to note that the orbs explode at around 3 seconds from the time they were placed and they have a radius of around 10 yards. In addition, some skills such as the Wizard’s diamond skin will prevent damage from these orbs but will not prevent the player from being frozen.

Health Link – Since monsters with health link share the damage dealt to one monster to the others, it is best to focus all of the attacks on one of the monsters. Usually when done right, all of them will die once the player defeats one of the monsters with health link.  

Horde – When dealing with this affix, the player should be aware of where he/she is going as to avoid getting trapped by these monsters or stuck in a bad position. The player can also use obstacles like the doorways to try and reduce the number of monsters that can attack them simultaneously.

Illusionist – Dealing with illusionists can be a pain at times, the only best way to deal with them is to use a good crowd control skill or some forms of attacks that can hit multiple targets. If that is not an option, obstacles and narrow pathways will greatly decrease the damage the player takes from the illusions. I believe the illusions are unable to use other skills such as fire chains, molten and plague which could make it easy for players to pick off the real one unless they do not spawn with other affixes.

Invulnerable Minions – There is only one way to defeat these kinds of monsters and that is to kill their leader swiftly. As many may have mentioned, it is best to skip such monsters as the time it takes to defeat this group and the amount of gold lost due to player deaths is not worth it. Alternatively, when playing in a party, it is possible for someone to lure away the invulnerable minions while the other players defeat the leader. I have done this quite a lot of times in inferno along with my friends where I took the bait and they continued to defeat the leader.

Jailer – When facing monsters with jailer affix, it would be best for players to have damage mitigation skills or escape skills. This would act like the player’s “get out of jail card” in case things do not turn out as expected. It would also be helpful to equip certain items with the ability to reduce controlling effects would decrease the time getting jailed.

Knockback – When dealing with monsters with knockback affix, the players should be wary of where their backs are facing. This is to avoid getting knocked into corners where the monsters can permanently get the player stuck with their attacks. It is important to note that the knockback effect pushes the players and leaves a 2 second slow after the player has been knocked backwards. Some skills such as the Witch Doctor’s spirit walk will remove this slow effect after being knocked back.

Missile Dampening – Monsters with missile dampening affix are not really a threat to melee classes however, a lot of the ranged attacks have missiles and as such they are severely hindered by this ability. One way of beat this monster is to try and get near it as such, the missile projectile of the ranged attacks travel a short distance, thereby hitting the monster. However, in cases where the player cannot get near the monster as it would prove to be dangerous, certain spells or attacks which can track or home in to the enemy can be used in order to hit the monster with ease.  

Molten – When dealing with monsters with molten affix, avoid stepping on the lava trails that they leave. In higher difficulties, these lava pools will drain the player’s hitpoints very fast. It would be best to keep the monsters still for some time in order to give time for the lava trails to disappear or run around in big circles (especially useful when kiting). Finally, always remember that these monsters will leave a timed explosion when they die and often times these explosions would be lethal especially in inferno.

Mortar - Monsters with mortar affix are generally long ranged grenadiers and each mortar bomb deals quite a lot of damage if they manage to hit the player. These mortar bombs have a minimum range hence staying near the monsters would allow the player to avoid all of these mortar bombs. However, it is also viable for ranged class players to stay away from the bomb’s maximum range especially if the monster moves slowly. Note that some forms of obstacles may block mortar attacks like solid walls and this would be advantageous to use if applicable.

Nightmarish – Quite similar to knockback, player should be wary of their backs. Players should make sure that there are no potential hazards behind them such as environmental traps, arcane sentries, poison pools etc… A player can also reduce the amount of time getting feared with equipment that can reduce controlling effects. Lastly, it would be important to note that the player is unable to cast skills when they are feared.

Plagued – Monsters with plagued affix are particularly dangerous towards melee classes as they lay poison pools on the spot where the monster is standing from time to time. When facing plagued monsters, always be wary of their actions as it will indicate whether or not they will place poison pools. Usually when the monster stops for a second, it is the signal that they will place poison pools. Hopefully this will be enough time for the player to move out of the way. Note that more often than not, it would be best to lure plagued monsters to more open fields when the situation allows it so that their poison pools would not be in the way.

  

Reflect Damage – When facing reflect damage monsters, there is little that the player can do as all skills both physical and magical are reflected. A good way to counter the damage reflected is to have a good amount of life regeneration from equipment. Without good life regeneration from equipment, a damage absorbing skill or potions would be the next best thing to use.

Shielding – These types of monsters can be quite bothersome to deal with as their shields grant them immunity to damage for a few seconds. The best way to beat them is to move away when they start shielding up and start attacking them again when the shield is dispersed. I believe some skills with snare can bypass shield slowing down the monsters for a short time but will not do damage. Increasing the player’s damage output can ensure that battles with shielding monsters do not drag out too long.

Teleporter –  Monsters with teleporter affix can be quite a nasty surprise on players who are trying to run away. There is little that can be done to stop monsters from teleporting but perhaps slowing them down would decrease their attack speed and will likely not land an attack once they teleport right beside the player.  

Waller – When facing waller types of monsters, there are quite a lot of things that could happen and most of them are not ranged class friendly. The first scenario would be that the player gets stuck or blocked with walls with nowhere to escape. If the player gets stuck or blocked with walls, having an escape skill or a damage mitigating skill ready will help this would probably be the best time to use them. The second possible scenario is that the monster gets blocked by its own walls. As such, the player just needs to wait for the walls to crumble and attack the monster again. Finally the last scenario is that the player gets blocked with walls but there are holes or places where the player can move out to. It would advantageous for ranged classes to exit the walls by running out of it instead of using their escape skills like the Wizard’s teleport. It is important to remember that the earthen walls made by monsters with the waller affix can block most ranged attacks. However, area of effect attacks will still hit the monsters even if they block themselves with walls.

Vampiric – Increasing the player’s damage or armor rating will be the best way to deal with vampiric monsters. Having more damage would allow the player to quickly finish the battle ensuring that vampiric monsters do not gain a lot of life. Alternatively having more armor decreases the damage the monsters will do which also reduces life they gain from attacking the player.  

Vortex  - Monsters that spawn with vortex affix can be a nightmare to ranged classes as most ranged classes do not want to get near or right beside monsters. One of the most effective ways that the player can do to defeat vortex monsters is to use the environment. Often times, vortex does not completely suck the player in if there is a wall, obstacle or some form of doodad in between the player and the monster. The player can also use the corners of an intersection to stop the monster from pulling the player in completely.  If none of these are available, try to lead monsters into less open areas as vortex works well when there are no obstacles.

I believe there are other tips that players can use out there that I have failed to list down, feel free to place them in the comments below.

Diablo 3 Monster Affixes List

Diablo 3 Monster Affixes List

Arcane Enchanted – Monsters with this affix leaves arcane sentries which fire rotating laser beams. They also deal additional arcane damage and have a higher arcane resistance.  The laser beams rotate 360° before they disappear.

Avenger – Monsters with this affix allows the death of one of the monsters to fuel the remaining ones with more attack power and damage.

Desecrator – Monsters with this affix creates pools of reddish void beneath the player.

Electrified – For those that are familiar with Diablo 2, these are your lightning enchanted mobs. Monsters with this affix discharge charged bolts in random directions when hit. These charged bolts are quite slower now compared to that of Diablo 2.

Extra Health – Monsters with this affix have increased health.

Fast – Monsters with this affix have their movement speed, attack, and cast rate faster.

Fire Chains – Monsters with this affix will have chains imbued with fire in between the monsters. The player who gets near these chains will get damaged over time.

Frozen – Monsters with this affix can create multiple orbs in an area which eventually explode like a frost nova freezing any player who gets hit by the explosion. These monsters have cold damage on attack and have a higher cold resistance.

Health Link - Monsters with this affix share the damage taken by one of the monsters with this affix to all the other monsters in the group with health link.

Horde – Monsters with this affix spawn with more minions.

Illusionist - Monsters with this affix can create illusions of itself when struck. The illusions the monsters create still do damage and will not dispel until killed. 

Invulnerable Minions - Monsters with this affix spawn with invulnerable minions.

Jailer - Monsters with this affix allows them to temporarily immobilize the player in a prison.

Knockback - Monsters with this affix allows them to push players on hit and apply a slowing effect after getting pushed.

Missile Dampening - Monsters with this affix have a sphere which slows down projectiles that go in it. If you are familiar with the wizard’s slow time skill, it is as if the monster has a permanent slow time on itself.

Molten – Monsters with this affix leave trailing pools of lava when walking. The pools of lava deal damage over time to any player who passes by them. When killed, these monsters also leave time bombs which explode after a few seconds dealing quite a big amount of damage in an area. They deal fire damage and have higher fire resistance. These are like your fire enchanted monsters in Diablo 2 with permanent blaze.

Mortar - Monsters with this affix can throw firebombs that deal splash damage at a certain distance away from the monster.

Nightmarish - Monsters with this affix have a chance to fear players when they attack leaving the player to run away from the monster and temporarily being unable to use skills.

Plagued - Monsters with this affix leave pools of poison which last quite some time. They have higher poison resistance as well.

Reflect Damage - Monsters with this affix reflect a portion of the damage the player does with any attacks, spells, skills back to the player.

Shielding - Monsters with this affix can conjure an invulnerable shield for a short time. 

Teleporter - Monsters with this affix allows the monsters to teleport to a short location.

Waller - Monsters with this affix allow the monsters to summon walls between the monster and the player or behind the player to prevent escape.

Vampiric - Monsters with this affix allow them to heal themselves for the amount of damage they do to the player with their attacks.

Vortex  - Monsters with this affix allow them to pull the player right next to the monster.

I believe these are all the monster affixes that can be found in game, if I have missed some, you can leave a comment below and I will edit this post. In another post I will give out tips and strategies on how to have an edge in fighting these monsters.

Character Introduction and 5 tips for newbies in Diablo 3

Before I head on to giving strategies and tips, I think it's best first to introduce my character. I've played all classes in Diablo 3 open beta weekend, read up on their skills and tried them out until level 13. Out of all the classes, I found the wizard to be the one that suits my playstyle the best (kiting around and yelling at invulnerable mob monsters). So without further ado I introduce to you all, my level 60 Wizard, currently in Act 2 Inferno, Manapause.

Now that I've introduced my character, the time has come to give my 5 tips for newbies.

1. Pick a class that suits you and your playstyle.


Everyone has a different playstyle to suit them, I cannot judge this for you, and nobody else can judge it for you better than yourself. Each class has a different playstyle and pros and cons. Everyone out there who plays Diablo 3 knows that some classes excel better in a certain playstyle. It is best to try out all the classes up to a certain level to get the feel of each of their playstyles. But if you don't have the luxury of time, here is a little breakdown of the character playstyles.

Barbarian (Barb)- the barbarian excels in close ranged combats, and as the name suggests, they have a lot of brute strength  and can easily obliterate foes at a close distance.  They have very high armor rating and physical defense so taking hits from monsters aren't really that fatal.

Monk (Monk) - similar to the barbarians, the monks excel in close ranged combats as well, however they lack the high physical defense present to that of the barbarians. The monks have high dexterity so they can avoid some attacks and as well as abilities which can heal themselves and blind foes increasing their survival against big groups of monsters.

Demon Hunter (DH) - the demon hunter is an agile character that excels in long ranged combat with the ability to lay traps which incapacitate monsters and dish out huge amounts of damage. The DH can obliterate foes at a safe distance without needing to come close and taking hits from the monsters. Much like the monks, they have high dexterity which helps them avoid attacks in case they are in a bad spot but they have low vitality like the wizard. They can use weapons such as crossbows and bows and even dual-wielding one-hand crossbows (reminds me of lara croft except with crossbows).

Witch Doctor (WD) - the witch doctor is a magic oriented character that excels in crowd controlling. If you have played Diablo 2, the witch doctor is the closest class to that of the necromancer. the WD can conjure curses to manipulate or control the enemies, summon monsters and demons to aid him and eventually turn the tide of the battle in his or her favor. Unlike the necromancer though, the witch doctor summons cannot fully win the battle for you, the summons have slightly low damage and much of the damage still comes from the other skills of the WD which require intelligence to boost.

Wizard (Wiz) - the wizard is another magic oriented character that excels in dishing out magical damage in areas of effect (AoE). They have very strong magical attacks due to their high intelligence that pretty much obliterates monsters also at the safe distance. However, unlike the demon hunters, the wizard is not too much of an agile class and they have low vitality as well. The wizards are the glass cannons of Diablo 3.

* some notes to consider
-melee classes have a natural 30% resistance to damage. (monk, barbarian)
-high strength, dexterity, intelligence (these are all based on the natural stat gain of the class but they can be changed based on the equipment that you use for your character)

2. Enable elective mode

Whether you are new to the Diablo series or not, or Diablo 3 for that matter, you must enable elective mode in the options. Elective mode allows you to pick the skills that you want and as well as which skills go to which hotkey slot. This is important so that your gameplay becomes optimal and not limited. Without elective mode, the game forces you to choose only one skill per skill type which greatly hinders the efficiency of each of the classes. So whether or not it is your first time in playing, enabling this option is really for the best. Below is a screenshot of where to find the elective mode in the options menu.

Elective mode in Diablo 3 Options

3. The auction house is your best friend

If you have troubles with the increasing difficulty of the monsters that you face or you would like to  find the better gear for your character, the auction house is a good way to find these items. Due to the nature of  randomness in all items that are dropped in the Diablo series, the auction house will allow players to buy items from other players or sell the items that they have collected in their adventure in order to improve or further customize their characters. As such, I encourage everyone who plays Diablo 3 even the newbies to check out the auction house every now and then to buy new equipment for their characters or sell the items that they need. In my experience with my Wizard, the items that dropped were mostly for other classes (like items with high dexterity or strength), as such I sold them off the auction house and bought myself items with high intelligence to boost my damage.

4. Explore the world of Diablo 3

The world of Diablo 3 is pretty big and there are a lot of side quests called events, other treasures and hidden areas with unique bosses. If you are new to the game, it is best to explore everything when you have the time  so that you can benefit from the experience from doing events, gold and another valuable loot that you may find while exploring the world. All these items, treasures and experience will benefit your character greatly and improve your gameplay as your level and gear quality increases making your character more powerful and ready to face the legions of Diablo and the many challenges that await you.

5. Play with friends

Sometimes the best way to go about clearing dungeons and obliterating the monsters from the burning hells without much frustration is to play with friends. It is good to play with friends so that you can share your spoils of battle, trade equipment and gear your character better. In addition, certain classes will have their cons negated when teaming up with another class (i.e. wizard + barb). As such, the game becomes easier (if it feels too difficult), and you can have more fun and enjoyable adventures. 



That's all for now and have fun playing Diablo 3.

Introduction to Diablo 3 tips and strategies

Hello and welcome to my diablo 3 tips and strategies blog. In here I will share my tips and strategies in order to have a more fun and enjoyable diablo 3 experience. Sometimes I might share other things like my crazy adventures in the lands of the burning hells and high heavens. Other times you might see unburied graves due to champion mobs and elite monsters, but that's all part of the fun and experience of it all (of course using my tips and strategies will avoid this, but latency and bad luck are totally unavoidable). So let the fun begin. :P