Questions from Newb Person

[Ylu 1]

First of all, hello, and thanks for this great site.

I got D3 a couple of weeks ago after I learned that the RMAH had been removed, and I enjoy it, even though I am not a competive gamer. I really enjoy Deadset's guides on this site; they are well-written and are obviously and appreciatively made to be understandable to a person like me, and I have learned a lot. Thank you!

Particularly interested after I discovered that I must have been intuitively doing the identical setup of the "Fresh 70" Wizard build (except I have been using Explosive Blast (instead of Black Hole), because I found a nice legendary orb which enhances that). So I thought I would take a look at some of the other things, at least briefly, to see if there are more overlaps. Otherwise, I try not to "cookie cutter" too much, which isn't that easy anyway for me because I have not found all this great gear that you people have. So I hope I can ask my newbish questions here and if you have a minute, could you take a look at them and perhaps my builds and see if there is something wrong? Thanks so much in advance!

1. I can’t seem to get steed charge to work properly. What am I doing wrong? When I activate it, about 90% of the time I gallop in place and cannot move. Is there something obvious I am missing?

2. I started out with a Witch Doctor, since I’ve always liked summons and natural meat shield always seemed easiest to get the hang of things. It took me a while to realize that “smart loot” prevents me from using him to find gear for my other chars. But so far I am doing this here, partly because it’s just what I’ve found, and partly because I really like it. My question is this: Although I can do Torment VIII now without great mishaps, I know my “build” is idiosyncratic and thus probably not fit for X. Or could it be? I like pets, and I found my first Ancient for WD in Zuni’s mojo, so I have it’s 4-point bonus and Helltooth’s as well.

2a.Is that considered a horrible no-no? Not going for a 6-piece full bonus but instead 2 four-piece ones? I like slowing everything down with Necrosis and GotD, and the 6-piece bonus for Helltooth doesn’t really fit for me just now, since I can’t figure out how to spam Wall of Death, but maybe I should go for Zuni?

2b. I know I have crappy weapon, belt, bracers and amulet, but haven’t found better yet. Am I supposed to craft some?

2c. Am I supposed to try to get more Magic Find on my gear? I remember that being very helpful in Diablo2, but not sure if that factors in to Bounty rewards and Rift Guardian drops.

2d. Even before I found Enforcer, I have never had a pet die. Ever. None of my dogs or my fetishes ever seems to get hurt. Is that a bug? Or do I just need to go higher than VIII?

2e. Going higher in difficulty doesn’t seem to be dangerous, just slow. I have toned it down a level before not because I was dying, but because it was taking too long to kill stuff. If maxing damage is therefore a priority, what do I need to do more? I understand now that unlike D2 (where I found it easier to use Sorc or Necro to get items for others because their skills did damage mostly independently of weapon damage), almost everything except thorns scales off Weapon Damage, so I need a good weapon. Is it right to try to always compare gear stats and make sure my DPS on the character screen is getting higher? Do I need to save up Forgotten Souls to re-roll the cold damage on the weapon to Physical?

3. My Wizard is happy with the Firebird pieces she found, and I find this playstyle to suit me well. I see in your guide that your defense against getting swarmed is a cool synergy with something I’ve never tried and don’t have access to yet (Halo of Arlyse and Ancient Parth Defenders). Until I do, I have to keep the difficulty to VIII, since I otherwise can’t kill fast enough. Does this here seem ok?  Again, I’m missing a good weapon. Since I found out than in Greater Rifts you can get those great gems, I’m using Bane of Powerful, Taeguk, and Hoarder / Goldwrap. Yesterday I found that Aquila Cuirass, but I think it hurts my damage if I equip it, so my question here is: If I need more damage, not survivability, isn’t Cindercoat  better? Also, without Cindercoat, I don’t know if I can keep up the >95% resources necessary to proc Cuirass. Maybe I need to cube it so that I can switch it out with Goldwrap for those Greater Rifts?

4. My Demon Hunter has less luck. I found this nice 1-hand crossbow, but almost anything I equip in the offhand makes my damage on my sheet go down. If I use a quiver (and I only have that rare one), doesn’t it make more sense to use a 2-hand bow? But why do they all seem worse than this 1-hand one? I can only do Torment II with her.

5. Ditto my Crusader, for whom I have found not much. So I am trying a mixture of everything and trying to be creative. So far, it lets me do ok in Torment II-III. So for someone who is not in your league yet, but wants to have fun and yet also succeed in progressing, is it laughable to try things no one else does? For example, I found these pants, Death's Bargain, about 5 minutes after I found Pox Faulds. So I am wearing one and cubed the other and am trying to combine this with Thorns (until I find more Invokers) into a tanky semi-thorny Walking Poison Bomb. I’m using Blessed Hammer just because it fits into the style of staying still and Provoking, and I found some of that Light set, and I also found that Traveller's set, and also had those Boots of Disregard. So I am actually maxing my Health per Second (also on Paragon). So far it is working. I just can’t use many gems because I haven’t had luck rolling Sockets, but I could socket that Gizzard thing, right? Since there are no synergetic pieces to give me bonuses to Health per Second, and so therefore those Death’s Bargain pants will not serve me on higher difficulties where the monsters are just too healthy, I will have to change, right?

5b. Also, one last question about blocking: My character sheet already says I have 76% block chance. And it says that blocking is capped at 75%. So why should I take the Provoke rune that you suggest that increases block chance (Hit Me) if you can't go above 75%?

 

 Thank you very much for taking time and helping

Edited May 28, 2016 by Ylu

[Valks 2,375]

1 minute ago, Ylu said:

1. I can’t seem to get steed charge to work properly. What am I doing wrong? When I activate it, about 90% of the time I gallop in place and cannot move. Is there something obvious I am missing?

I'd suggest trying to bind "force move" to your mouse wheel button. It's likely that you are currently clicking on mobs and "attacking" them with the skill, so you're not moving. Force move should fix this.

4 minutes ago, Ylu said:

2. I started out with a Witch Doctor, since I’ve always liked summons and natural meat shield always seemed easiest to get the hang of things. It took me a while to realize that “smart loot” prevents me from using him to find gear for my other chars. But so far I am doing this here, partly because it’s just what I’ve found, and partly because I really like it. My question is this: Although I can do Torment VIII now without great mishaps, I know my “build” is idiosyncratic and thus probably not fit for X. Or could it be? I like pets, and I found my first Ancient for WD in Zuni’s mojo, so I have it’s 4-point bonus and Helltooth’s as well.

 

2a.Is that considered a horrible no-no? Not going for a 6-piece full bonus but instead 2 four-piece ones? I like slowing everything down with Necrosis and GotD, and the 6-piece bonus for Helltooth doesn’t really fit for me just now, since I can’t figure out how to spam Wall of Death, but maybe I should go for Zuni?

 

2b. I know I have crappy weapon, belt, bracers and amulet, but haven’t found better yet. Am I supposed to craft some?

 

2c. Am I supposed to try to get more Magic Find on my gear? I remember that being very helpful in Diablo2, but not sure if that factors in to Bounty rewards and Rift Guardian drops.

 

2d. Even before I found Enforcer, I have never had a pet die. Ever. None of my dogs or my fetishes ever seems to get hurt. Is that a bug? Or do I just need to go higher than VIII?

 

2e. Going higher in difficulty doesn’t seem to be dangerous, just slow. I have toned it down a level before not because I was dying, but because it was taking too long to kill stuff. If maxing damage is therefore a priority, what do I need to do more? I understand now that unlike D2 (where I found it easier to use Sorc or Necro to get items for others because their skills did damage mostly independently of weapon damage), almost everything except thorns scales off Weapon Damage, so I need a good weapon. Is it right to try to always compare gear stats and make sure my DPS on the character screen is getting higher? Do I need to save up Forgotten Souls to re-roll the cold damage on the weapon to Physical?

A. No, you can do this. Some builds rely on both sets to work, so instead use the smaller bonus to create a synergy that is more powerful than a single 6-set. In regards to spamming Wall of Death, the item required is a set of bracers (Jeram's Bracers). If you get those, Helltooth has a number of usable builds that utilise the 6-set.

B. You can, but there's no need unless it is your best-in-slot. Use whatever is best stat-wise until you get the necessary pieces.

C. It's really not that important.

D. Once you start pushing higher greater rifts, you'll see some much higher damage. You're still on quite a low torment, given that T8 is equal to GRIFT 35. 

E. If you're struggling to find a weapon, joining a public game might be useful to farm rifts. If you can survive, you won't be a burden, the problems are mainly with people that die every 2 seconds. If the weapon isn't good itself, don't bother spending too much rerolling it. Wait for a proper weapon to drop, then do it.

14 minutes ago, Ylu said:

3. My Wizard is happy with the Firebird pieces she found, and I find this playstyle to suit me well. I see in your guide that your defense against getting swarmed is a cool synergy with something I’ve never tried and don’t have access to yet (Halo of Arlyse and Ancient Parth Defenders). Until I do, I have to keep the difficulty to VIII, since I otherwise can’t kill fast enough. Does this here seem ok?  Again, I’m missing a good weapon. Since I found out than in Greater Rifts you can get those great gems, I’m using Bane of Powerful, Taeguk, and Hoarder / Goldwrap. Yesterday I found that Aquila Cuirass, but I think it hurts my damage if I equip it, so my question here is: If I need more damage, not survivability, isn’t Cindercoat  better? Also, without Cindercoat, I don’t know if I can keep up the >95% resources necessary to proc Cuirass. Maybe I need to cube it so that I can switch it out with Goldwrap for those Greater Rifts?

It's important to note that Hoarder + Goldwrap are useless in GRIFTs because no gold drops. They're just not worth using there at all. I would definitely keep the Cindercoat on. Your character seems fine, you just have to grind out those weapons! Make sure to try use the cube to roll rare swords into legendaries.

19 minutes ago, Ylu said:

4. My Demon Hunter has less luck. I found this nice 1-hand crossbow, but almost anything I equip in the offhand makes my damage on my sheet go down. If I use a quiver (and I only have that rare one), doesn’t it make more sense to use a 2-hand bow? But why do they all seem worse than this 1-hand one? I can only do Torment II with her.

So, currently, you're missing the "big" set bonuses that really make a DH jump out. The way your gear is currently, you have bits of the sets but not enough to really get the damage boost from them. As you can see from the 4 and 6-set of Natalya's, that's where the damage comes in.

It's most likely because your 1-hand crossbow is ancient. For Natalya's, you'll use 2 1-handers, as shown here. 

23 minutes ago, Ylu said:

5. Ditto my Crusader, for whom I have found not much. So I am trying a mixture of everything and trying to be creative. So far, it lets me do ok in Torment II-III. So for someone who is not in your league yet, but wants to have fun and yet also succeed in progressing, is it laughable to try things no one else does? For example, I found these pants, Death's Bargain, about 5 minutes after I found Pox Faulds. So I am wearing one and cubed the other and am trying to combine this with Thorns (until I find more Invokers) into a tanky semi-thorny Walking Poison Bomb. I’m using Blessed Hammer just because it fits into the style of staying still and Provoking, and I found some of that Light set, and I also found that Traveller's set, and also had those Boots of Disregard. So I am actually maxing my Health per Second (also on Paragon). So far it is working. I just can’t use many gems because I haven’t had luck rolling Sockets, but I could socket that Gizzard thing, right? Since there are no synergetic pieces to give me bonuses to Health per Second, and so therefore those Death’s Bargain pants will not serve me on higher difficulties where the monsters are just too healthy, I will have to change, right?

Here's the thing. Realistically, you can play whatever you want at low torment levels. The meta only narrows down when you start pushing MUCH higher GRIFTs, in which you're basically forced to play one or two specific builds per class. At the moment, just go for it, play what you want until you start wanting to push higher torments and then higher GRIFTs.

[Ylu 1]

 

Thank you very very much for that detailed reply, and so quick too. Great! I will keep all of that in mind indeed. If I may, only one last follow-up question:

5 hours ago, Blainie said:

5 hours ago, Ylu said:

1. I can’t seem to get steed charge to work properly. What am I doing wrong? When I activate it, about 90% of the time I gallop in place and cannot move. Is there something obvious I am missing?

I'd suggest trying to bind "force move" to your mouse wheel button. It's likely that you are currently clicking on mobs and "attacking" them with the skill, so you're not moving. Force move should fix this.

Yes, I have SC mapped to RMB. How do I map things to mouse wheel button? I don't see any way to change anything besides going into the "skills" screen and reassigning them through the skills menu. I must be overlooking something obvious, can you point it out? Thank you.

And please, the question about blocking (why choose Hit Me rune when blocking is capped at 75%, which you already get through Hold Your Ground and Justice Lantern)?

thank you

[Valks 2,375]

2 hours ago, Ylu said:

Thank you very very much for that detailed reply, and so quick too. Great! I will keep all of that in mind indeed. If I may, only one last follow-up question:

Yes, I have SC mapped to RMB. How do I map things to mouse wheel button? I don't see any way to change anything besides going into the "skills" screen and reassigning them through the skills menu. I must be overlooking something obvious, can you point it out? Thank you.

And please, the question about blocking (why choose Hit Me rune when blocking is capped at 75%, which you already get through Hold Your Ground and Justice Lantern)?

thank you

In your keybinds, there should be a "force move" option. Bind that to your mouse wheel. Once you have activated the steed charge, use your mouse wheel to move. Regardless of whether or not this is on top of an enemy, it will move through, rather attacking.

Your Justice Lantern only gives around 15% block chance. It's effect reduces your damage taken based on your block chance. It won't increase it, but instead works with it.

[Ylu 1]

Thank you, this is excellent help. Now I finally get it!

I'm still trying to improve my weapons, and have a question about it, if I may.

In your firebird guide, you say " The ideal stats would include high Damage range, Intelligence, Damage % and Area Damage " which I'm sure is right. At the moment, I am sporting The Burning Axe of Sankis, which is the best I can do, and I thought it was beneficial for me because it does fire damage. So

1a. isn't it right that +fire damage is actually better than +damage, since my bonuses to fire damage (I have 73%) would also apply to weapon damage, not just skill damage? Or am I getting that wrong?

1b. If the above is true, wouldn't it then make more sense to look for +fire damage on that sword you suggest?

Thank you in advance.

Otherwise, I hope I can pester you with two questions that aren't really related:

2. I'm curious about this Whimsydale thing I occasionally stumble across. Killing a Rainbow Goblin apparently gives me access to Whimsydale, which was cute the first time. Besides being a humorous easter-egg, does it serve a "purpose"? That is, unlike the other realm that treasure goblin seems to open (lots of gold and a chance to kill greed), Whimsydale doesn't seem to have a boss, any notable chests, or anything other than 3 types of always identical monsters, which is quite less entertaining that I had thought it would be. Am I missing something?

3. And speaking of gold, is there a special gold sink I am overlooking? Repairing items costs tuppence, and otherwise I have millions and millions more than I can spend. I already bought the plans to the Hellring which I cannot build yet, but otherwise Is there something here I should be saving for?

4. Somewhat related: I keep picking up trash, and now have more than 5000 salvaged Dusts and Crystals. I know I'm supposed to craft with them, but I'm not sure what. Do I need to keep picking these up and save them for something?

Thanks tons

 

[Valks 2,375]

17 minutes ago, Ylu said:

1a. isn't it right that +fire damage is actually better than +damage, since my bonuses to fire damage (I have 73%) would also apply to weapon damage, not just skill damage? Or am I getting that wrong?

1b. If the above is true, wouldn't it then make more sense to look for +fire damage on that sword you suggest?

The elemental affix on your X-Y element damage means nothing. The elements on the runes of the skills you use are the only thing that matter.

18 minutes ago, Ylu said:

2. I'm curious about this Whimsydale thing I occasionally stumble across. Killing a Rainbow Goblin apparently gives me access to Whimsydale, which was cute the first time. Besides being a humorous easter-egg, does it serve a "purpose"? That is, unlike the other realm that treasure goblin seems to open (lots of gold and a chance to kill greed), Whimsydale doesn't seem to have a boss, any notable chests, or anything other than 3 types of always identical monsters, which is quite less entertaining that I had thought it would be. Am I missing something?

So, there are actually two things like this in game. Whimsydale and Whimsyshire.

Whimsyshire requires a crafted item in order to access it. You can use our guide to find out how to make it.

The goblin spawns a portal to Whimsydale. There are basically a number of cosmetic rewards that can drop there, such as a hamburger weapon and such.

23 minutes ago, Ylu said:

3. And speaking of gold, is there a special gold sink I am overlooking? Repairing items costs tuppence, and otherwise I have millions and millions more than I can spend. I already bought the plans to the Hellring which I cannot build yet, but otherwise Is there something here I should be saving for?

Gold is very easy to come by in Diablo. You'll use it for making better gems mainly. The latest patch introduced something called Empowered Rifts, which allows you to gain an extra chance to level your gems when you go into a Greater Rift. You have to pay a pretty large sum of gold though. There isn't really a "sink" to save for.

24 minutes ago, Ylu said:

4. Somewhat related: I keep picking up trash, and now have more than 5000 salvaged Dusts and Crystals. I know I'm supposed to craft with them, but I'm not sure what. Do I need to keep picking these up and save them for something?

You will use them to:

• Enchant items to reforge the stats
• Combine them with a few other materials to forge items in the Kunai's Cube
• Forge some of the more useful sets from the Blacksmith, such as the Sage's set

[Ylu 1]

thank you very much.

 

2 hours ago, Blainie said:

You will use them to:

• Enchant items to reforge the stats
• Combine them with a few other materials to forge items in the Kunai's Cube
• Forge some of the more useful sets from the Blacksmith, such as the Sage's set

Regarding that, I find that I have those three salvaged parts bits in massive surplus, but I am always lacking in Fogotten Souls or Death's Breath, which seem to be a necessary part of those recipes.

 

[Valks 2,375]

12 hours ago, Ylu said:

Regarding that, I find that I have those three salvaged parts bits in massive surplus, but I am always lacking in Fogotten Souls or Death's Breath, which seem to be a necessary part of those recipes.

If you want to farm Death's Breath, I would suggest using a build that works with the Sage's set, which gives +1 Death's Breath per mob that drops them. You'll find more as you go up in torments, but unfortunately for now, you'll just have to farm them. I very easily clear T10 in 2 minutes or so and I lack DBs, just because they are so useful. You use them for so many different things.

Forgotten Souls will come as you get better, basically. More rifts = more legendaries = more souls.

[Ylu 1]

Thank you very much, this is all priceless.

I'm still confused about one thing. Does the damage type of a weapon (e.g. the weapon does physical damage, or holy damage, or fire etc.) factor in to bonuses to that elemental type one has, or does the latter only factor in to skills? In other words, if I am a Firebird mage and have a large % bonus to fire damage, and when considering which weapon to use (until I find the best in slot you recommend, I don't have that yet) should I take less care what those comparison mouse-over figures show (if I equip *that* weapon I get -8% damage) because it won't factor in the bonus to fire damage I have that corresponds to that weapon type? Or is the damage type of the weapon itself cosmetic?

In some ways, I'm still not sure how to translate that into weapon choices for my DH. As you say,

On 28/05/2016 at 11:58 AM, Blainie said:

It's most likely because your 1-hand crossbow is ancient. For Natalya's, you'll use 2 1-handers, as shown here. 

While I understand the cool synergies of that build you link to, I'm far from ready to be able to use that now since I'm lacking a lot of pieces. But it awakens a couple of questions. 

First, I want to make sure I understand Natalya's 4-piece bonus correctly. Adding 100% damage to RoV would double it's damage, and that's surely a great thing; but when I see that other set bonus damage increases are often 10x that amount (adding 1000% or 1400% or so) is the 4-piece bonus really that great?  Second, I can see that using 2 1-hand xbows fits great for that build, but until I have all the pieces, shouldn't 2-hand bows or xbows deal substantially more damage than 1-hand ones by themselves? I have so far not been able to find any bow (2 hand or otherwise, but I haven't found the Natalya's 1-hand yet) that's better than the one I have. I even found Yang's, which I have been looking for for a while because I have some pieces of the Unhollowed, but even that does 30% less damage (says my tooltip overlay). Why does a two-handed bow feel substantially weaker than a 1-handed one? Or is the damage it does (about 3+k, and it has a slot for an emerald, as opposed to 2+k of Yang's, which has no socket) not so important as other factors? Until I find that Quiver that goes with Yang's (Dead Man's), it seems almost as if it's not worth even using the 4-piece Unhallowed set. Or am I misunderstanding something? Finally, it seems that no offhand crossbow even comes close to giving me the damage boost a quiver does (even for just using a 1-hand xbow). Is that intentional, or am I missing something? I thought dual-wielding was supposed to be a good option outside of special sets?

Edit: And one last question ;-) How can I figure out which skills apply additional damage for additional use, and which skills do not? Example: Blizzard and Haunt explicitly state that only one instance of those skills can affect a target at a time -- do all skills which do that explicitly state that? For example, if I cast Grasp of the Dead on a patch of enemies, and cast it three times again just afterwards, so that for example 4 instances of it are active in roughly the same area at the same time, would the enemies take 4x the DoT damage (but of course not additional slowness)?

And if I get a boost to damage (Through pylon or nephalem globes), does this also affect my pets' damage which were summoned before the boost applied?

Thanks tons!

Edited June 2, 2016 by Ylu

[Ylu 1]

While still hoping for a reply to my above post, I'll add another question that's been trying me lately: How reliable are the highlighted bonus icons, or the character screen for showing additional buffs my gear is supposed to give me? For the first, I now have a 6-piece Firebird set, and it seems to be working nicely. By accident, however, I noticed that there is, very rarely (often when I am in town) a little crown-looking bonus icon above my toolbar (where those other buffs show up, like from nephalem globes), and when I hover over it it tells me that I am getting a bonus from Firebird. I only see this rarely, and oddly enough, almost never when I think I should be getting the bonus (like when I am actually damaging an enemy), and so I wonder if I am ever getting this bonus when I *don't* see it. Another item is the Ashnaggar's Blood Bracer. For lack of a better bracer, I keep trying this one on my Wizard, but I am not noticing a change in the potency of my Energy Armor in my character sheet. Is that just a bug?

Thanks very much for your help.

 

 

[Ylu 1]

Just in case anyone is still reading this and might reply, do you know why some of some of my spells seem to end prematurely? I usually case Magic Weapon, Energy Armor, and Familiar at the same time immediately after my rift opens -- all last 10 minutes, and usually I ignore the timers on them. But sometimes on of those three seems to end 20% earlier than the others. Why is that?

Thank you

[Valks 2,375]

On 6/2/2016 at 9:05 AM, Ylu said:

Thank you very much, this is all priceless.

I'm still confused about one thing. Does the damage type of a weapon (e.g. the weapon does physical damage, or holy damage, or fire etc.) factor in to bonuses to that elemental type one has, or does the latter only factor in to skills? In other words, if I am a Firebird mage and have a large % bonus to fire damage, and when considering which weapon to use (until I find the best in slot you recommend, I don't have that yet) should I take less care what those comparison mouse-over figures show (if I equip *that* weapon I get -8% damage) because it won't factor in the bonus to fire damage I have that corresponds to that weapon type? Or is the damage type of the weapon itself cosmetic?

In some ways, I'm still not sure how to translate that into weapon choices for my DH. As you say,

While I understand the cool synergies of that build you link to, I'm far from ready to be able to use that now since I'm lacking a lot of pieces. But it awakens a couple of questions. 

First, I want to make sure I understand Natalya's 4-piece bonus correctly. Adding 100% damage to RoV would double it's damage, and that's surely a great thing; but when I see that other set bonus damage increases are often 10x that amount (adding 1000% or 1400% or so) is the 4-piece bonus really that great?  Second, I can see that using 2 1-hand xbows fits great for that build, but until I have all the pieces, shouldn't 2-hand bows or xbows deal substantially more damage than 1-hand ones by themselves? I have so far not been able to find any bow (2 hand or otherwise, but I haven't found the Natalya's 1-hand yet) that's better than the one I have. I even found Yang's, which I have been looking for for a while because I have some pieces of the Unhollowed, but even that does 30% less damage (says my tooltip overlay). Why does a two-handed bow feel substantially weaker than a 1-handed one? Or is the damage it does (about 3+k, and it has a slot for an emerald, as opposed to 2+k of Yang's, which has no socket) not so important as other factors? Until I find that Quiver that goes with Yang's (Dead Man's), it seems almost as if it's not worth even using the 4-piece Unhallowed set. Or am I misunderstanding something? Finally, it seems that no offhand crossbow even comes close to giving me the damage boost a quiver does (even for just using a 1-hand xbow). Is that intentional, or am I missing something? I thought dual-wielding was supposed to be a good option outside of special sets?

Edit: And one last question ;-) How can I figure out which skills apply additional damage for additional use, and which skills do not? Example: Blizzard and Haunt explicitly state that only one instance of those skills can affect a target at a time -- do all skills which do that explicitly state that? For example, if I cast Grasp of the Dead on a patch of enemies, and cast it three times again just afterwards, so that for example 4 instances of it are active in roughly the same area at the same time, would the enemies take 4x the DoT damage (but of course not additional slowness)?

And if I get a boost to damage (Through pylon or nephalem globes), does this also affect my pets' damage which were summoned before the boost applied?

Thanks tons!

Sorry for the late reply! I was in LA for the Warcraft movie premiere and such, so was AFK :)

No, the elemental damage type is essentially cosmetic in D3.

The 4-set is decent, it's essentially just extra damage you pick up while getting the 6-set:

After casting Rain of Vengeance, deal 500% increased damage and take 60% reduced damage for 10 seconds.

You've answered yourself there on the bow questions - it's essentially just the differences in base damage and such.

1-hand crossbows are often used for higher rate of fire + the special bonus that comes with them. For example, Calamity has an amazing effect when combined with the Natalya's set. 

I'd use whatever has the highest base damage until you get the right weapons for different builds.

They will explicitly state that, yeah. It will normally have a small disclaimer of sorts.

The damage boost will apply to pets, I believe.

On 6/7/2016 at 10:55 AM, Ylu said:

While still hoping for a reply to my above post, I'll add another question that's been trying me lately: How reliable are the highlighted bonus icons, or the character screen for showing additional buffs my gear is supposed to give me? For the first, I now have a 6-piece Firebird set, and it seems to be working nicely. By accident, however, I noticed that there is, very rarely (often when I am in town) a little crown-looking bonus icon above my toolbar (where those other buffs show up, like from nephalem globes), and when I hover over it it tells me that I am getting a bonus from Firebird. I only see this rarely, and oddly enough, almost never when I think I should be getting the bonus (like when I am actually damaging an enemy), and so I wonder if I am ever getting this bonus when I *don't* see it. Another item is the Ashnaggar's Blood Bracer. For lack of a better bracer, I keep trying this one on my Wizard, but I am not noticing a change in the potency of my Energy Armor in my character sheet. Is that just a bug?

Thanks very much for your help.

I generally just rely on my own "book-keeping" so to speak. If I know I am burning an enemy, I know the set bonus is there. It's annoying, but I find it's better to just understand what each set does so that you know when it's working and when it's not.

23 hours ago, Ylu said:

Just in case anyone is still reading this and might reply, do you know why some of some of my spells seem to end prematurely? I usually case Magic Weapon, Energy Armor, and Familiar at the same time immediately after my rift opens -- all last 10 minutes, and usually I ignore the timers on them. But sometimes on of those three seems to end 20% earlier than the others. Why is that?

Thank you

This one, I'm not sure about, sorry!

[Ylu 1]

Thanks so much!!

So

On 11.6.2016 at 4:23 PM, Blainie said:

They will explicitly state that, yeah. It will normally have a small disclaimer of sorts.

are you saying that they will explicitly state that they will not overlap and otherwise will? Sorry to pester. Just trying to understand if Grasp of the Dead, for instance, which has no disclaimer, applies additional damage if cast twice quickly to the same area.

Does it make sense to slot legendary gems into a follower's gear?

 

[Valks 2,375]

On 6/14/2016 at 10:57 AM, Ylu said:

Thanks so much!!

So

are you saying that they will explicitly state that they will not overlap and otherwise will? Sorry to pester. Just trying to understand if Grasp of the Dead, for instance, which has no disclaimer, applies additional damage if cast twice quickly to the same area.

Does it make sense to slot legendary gems into a follower's gear?

 

Yeah, they will stack the damage.

Legendary gems don't work on followers, so stick with normal gems.

[Ylu 1]

Thanks so much!!

OK last questions -- really! ;-)

1. There is a screen loading tooltip which claims that Barbs, Crusaders and Monks take 30% less damage than the other classes. Is that an inherent DR that is not present on the screen, or what? Can't seem to notice it otherwise.

2. I'm finally getting my gear for my DH together, and it's finally feeling good. What I can't seem to get is enough CDR without losing too much damage. So currently running Unhallowed + Yangs and cubing Leoric's Crown outside of GRs, in GRs I'm always missing about 4 seconds of Vengeance. Do I need to just go with 10% less damage and hope for finding Ancient replacements, or just live with those few seconds of Vengeancelessness?

3. I've seen postings somewhere to the point that gems get maxed leveled when at 50. Maybe I am confusing something, but I just tried for the hell of it and I leveled one gem to 51 (Bane of Trapped I think), so at least it's possible in principle. Is there a max level, or does going past 50 have no real use?

Thank you!

[Valks 2,375]

15 hours ago, Ylu said:

Thanks so much!!

OK last questions -- really! ;-)

1. There is a screen loading tooltip which claims that Barbs, Crusaders and Monks take 30% less damage than the other classes. Is that an inherent DR that is not present on the screen, or what? Can't seem to notice it otherwise.

2. I'm finally getting my gear for my DH together, and it's finally feeling good. What I can't seem to get is enough CDR without losing too much damage. So currently running Unhallowed + Yangs and cubing Leoric's Crown outside of GRs, in GRs I'm always missing about 4 seconds of Vengeance. Do I need to just go with 10% less damage and hope for finding Ancient replacements, or just live with those few seconds of Vengeancelessness?

3. I've seen postings somewhere to the point that gems get maxed leveled when at 50. Maybe I am confusing something, but I just tried for the hell of it and I leveled one gem to 51 (Bane of Trapped I think), so at least it's possible in principle. Is there a max level, or does going past 50 have no real use?

Thank you!

1. Yes, the damage reduction is inherent. It's due to the fact that these classes are all melee, so are vulnerable to many more mechanics/much more damage.
2. Can I get a link to your armoury? Makes this question easier.
3. Some gems go higher than 50, others don't. For example, Iceblink maxes out at 50. It essentially depends on their effects. 

[Ylu 1]

Thank you!

 

2 hours ago, Blainie said:

• Can I get a link to your armoury? Makes this question easier.

yes certainly. http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/profile/onomastikon-1355/hero/77013541

I've cubed the crown here and am wearing Goldwrap / Hoarder. I don't really need Vengeance in TX for the damage or for the protection that VoG would have given me, but the hatred regen from Seethe is great. For GRs I switch belts (and gem of course) then switch to Visage of Gunes whose protection I need. I am always disliking those 4 seconds when I am Vengeanceless.

[Valks 2,375]

28 minutes ago, Ylu said:

Thank you!

 

yes certainly. http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/profile/onomastikon-1355/hero/77013541

I've cubed the crown here and am wearing Goldwrap / Hoarder. I don't really need Vengeance in TX for the damage or for the protection that VoG would have given me, but the hatred regen from Seethe is great. For GRs I switch belts (and gem of course) then switch to Visage of Gunes whose protection I need. I am always disliking those 4 seconds when I am Vengeanceless.

I'd recommend moving Vitality into CDR on your shoulders. That should fix the problem.

[Ylu 1]

Thanks much! Helps indeed.

I briefly tried the Marauder, whose set and other items I had slowly gotten together now, and got creamed. Yang's Multi seems so much more powerful, and safe! The set damage reduction with Elusive Ring and Wraps of Clarity just rock, I can do 10 levels of GR higher. Same thing with my little Crusader, for whom I finally gambled enough of my DH's blood shards to get the BH setup he has been waiting for -- he can clear screens of trash without a problem, and that part is fun, but Falling Sword really seems like a poor-man's movement utility option after vault (especially with Tactical Advantage, which I use instead of one of the passive's listed here). I have serious wrath management issues and I die frequently on GRs in the low 50s. Thorns seems to be better, but despite the tankiness of the build, I feel frailer than my DH! Maybe it's because I'm not exactly sure how Thorns works -- does it reflect the damage back that I take too? Maybe it's because I can't crit that it takes me longer to actually facetank?

[Ylu 1]

PS maybe to clarify my question on the Crusader:

- do Thorns do damage to anybody who hits me? But unlike Thorns in D2, I do not reflect the damage, but do my own?

- Is the Invoker's main damage dealer Punish through the 6-piece set bonus? So that causing damage by the thorns themselves (previous question) is a bit like icing on the cake, but not enough to really take down serious monsters?

- What exactly does "to the first enemy hit" in the 6-piece bonus mean? I mean, assuming I hit with Provoke, that I will always only hit 1 enemy? Or does it mean: area damage (if it procs) does not get the bonus damage?

- I realize I do not have decent rolls on my gear (I just completed the set) and a lot of it is still jury-rigged, but could you look at it and tell me if I am doing anything seriously wrong, because I still feel more fragile than my Yang's DH.

Thank you!

[Valks 2,375]

On 6/27/2016 at 10:58 AM, Ylu said:

PS maybe to clarify my question on the Crusader:

- do Thorns do damage to anybody who hits me? But unlike Thorns in D2, I do not reflect the damage, but do my own?

- Is the Invoker's main damage dealer Punish through the 6-piece set bonus? So that causing damage by the thorns themselves (previous question) is a bit like icing on the cake, but not enough to really take down serious monsters?

- What exactly does "to the first enemy hit" in the 6-piece bonus mean? I mean, assuming I hit with Provoke, that I will always only hit 1 enemy? Or does it mean: area damage (if it procs) does not get the bonus damage?

- I realize I do not have decent rolls on my gear (I just completed the set) and a lot of it is still jury-rigged, but could you look at it and tell me if I am doing anything seriously wrong, because I still feel more fragile than my Yang's DH.

Thank you!

They have to actually HIT you, not just cast a spell at you I believe.

Punish does a lot of damage with the 6-set, but the thorns definitely shouldn't be underestimated. You'll struggle using Thorns to kill a spell-casting RG though, for example.

I'd recommend checking out this thread for the AD question: https://www.reddit.com/r/Diablo3Crusaders/comments/41psfg/invoker_interactions/

At a quick glance, it looks like you simply need better rolls on some gear. Some legendary gems would also help out, such as the Thorns one, Trapped and Stricken. Your gear isn't that bad, you probably just need to adjust your playstyle slightly. Check out Deadset's guide for the build, he has a section detailing how to play the build efficiently. 

[Ylu 1]

Thank you very much for that. Your continued help is really great!

My DH doesn't have the greatest rolls or even many Ancient items, but for whatever reason, her setup allows me to breeze through t10 runs and successfully complete GR68 in the alloted time. I don't come anywhere close to that with the Crusader, who now uses almost exactly the same setup as Deadset here suggests (albeit with poorer rolls). He comes close, however, at 60, he's just slower and less reliable. Similar with my Wizard: she has the full Firebird setup (not much ancients, of course) but struggles with 50. Why? Just not my playstyle?

My WD has specced out of Zuni-Carnivel, I was struggling with the lower 50s! Why is that? I just couldn't seem to kill fast enough, and kept dying a bit too much. I'm actually doing better with a weird hybrid I'm sure no one uses and which I haven't finished tweaking yet: having the Ring of Royal cubed, I get the 6-piece Helltooth bonus (chest, should, gloves, mask, boots) while wearing Zuni's mojo, ring, and pants (4-piece bonus). Have Short Man's Finger and a Helltooth (Sycophant passive), and carrying nothing particular as weapon or belt (both ancient items with what seems to me like decent toughness rolls and damage on weapon), since I've found nothing better. And since I still haven't found a Lakumba's Ornament, I've specced out of Soul Harvester and just stick with Spirit Walk, instead using Jeram's Bracers, which I just found. I stay almost entirely in the background and shoot off Wall of Death, and every now and then Grasp of Dead (because I otherwise *cant get through doors and barricades* argh! wall of death won't let me pierce them! I don't even want another damage dealer, I just take it to get through those spots in some dungeons where you must break a barrier!). My other slots are taken up with Gargantuan, Dogs, and Fetish Army, and my passives all support those (Midnight Feast, Fierce Loyalty, Zombie Handler), then I take Grave Injustice for the CDR. In the cube, I have RoRG, Mask of Jeram, and Henri's (I haven't found Theo and Tasker yet). I feel really robust so far. But I find it odd, especially considering that I am using at least 30% crap. My first question here is the weapon. For a lack of anything else, I am using an ancient Envious Blade. It seems great to me. Why doesn't anyone else like that 100% crit chance on fresh enemies? My second question: I have almost always an entire mana pool, so I am even considering trying to get Aquilla's into the mix instead of Zuni (which I only take for the toughness of the damage reduction of the 4-piece bonus, and seems nice since I am using pets anyway). What do you think? Last question: is there any way around those barriers / wooden doors which require me breaking them? I'd like to consider getting rid of GotD and getting something else, even if it's just Soul Harvest....?

And lastly, this I've been wanting to know for a while: Do the AoE attacks / spells which cover an aread for a time (for example in the WD arsenal, such as WoD) affect monsters who wander into it after it has been cast, or only at casting? For example, would a monster that just wandered into the last half-second of a WoD Communing with Spirits circle still have its damage reduced for 3 seconds, and would it take some DoT?

THANK YOU!

Edited July 1, 2016 by Ylu

[Valks 2,375]

On 7/1/2016 at 2:25 PM, Ylu said:

Thank you very much for that. Your continued help is really great!

My DH doesn't have the greatest rolls or even many Ancient items, but for whatever reason, her setup allows me to breeze through t10 runs and successfully complete GR68 in the alloted time. I don't come anywhere close to that with the Crusader, who now uses almost exactly the same setup as Deadset here suggests (albeit with poorer rolls). He comes close, however, at 60, he's just slower and less reliable. Similar with my Wizard: she has the full Firebird setup (not much ancients, of course) but struggles with 50. Why? Just not my playstyle?

My WD has specced out of Zuni-Carnivel, I was struggling with the lower 50s! Why is that? I just couldn't seem to kill fast enough, and kept dying a bit too much. I'm actually doing better with a weird hybrid I'm sure no one uses and which I haven't finished tweaking yet: having the Ring of Royal cubed, I get the 6-piece Helltooth bonus (chest, should, gloves, mask, boots) while wearing Zuni's mojo, ring, and pants (4-piece bonus). Have Short Man's Finger and a Helltooth (Sycophant passive), and carrying nothing particular as weapon or belt (both ancient items with what seems to me like decent toughness rolls and damage on weapon), since I've found nothing better. And since I still haven't found a Lakumba's Ornament, I've specced out of Soul Harvester and just stick with Spirit Walk, instead using Jeram's Bracers, which I just found. I stay almost entirely in the background and shoot off Wall of Death, and every now and then Grasp of Dead (because I otherwise *cant get through doors and barricades* argh! wall of death won't let me pierce them! I don't even want another damage dealer, I just take it to get through those spots in some dungeons where you must break a barrier!). My other slots are taken up with Gargantuan, Dogs, and Fetish Army, and my passives all support those (Midnight Feast, Fierce Loyalty, Zombie Handler), then I take Grave Injustice for the CDR. In the cube, I have RoRG, Mask of Jeram, and Henri's (I haven't found Theo and Tasker yet). I feel really robust so far. But I find it odd, especially considering that I am using at least 30% crap. My first question here is the weapon. For a lack of anything else, I am using an ancient Envious Blade. It seems great to me. Why doesn't anyone else like that 100% crit chance on fresh enemies? My second question: I have almost always an entire mana pool, so I am even considering trying to get Aquilla's into the mix instead of Zuni (which I only take for the toughness of the damage reduction of the 4-piece bonus, and seems nice since I am using pets anyway). What do you think? Last question: is there any way around those barriers / wooden doors which require me breaking them? I'd like to consider getting rid of GotD and getting something else, even if it's just Soul Harvest....?

And lastly, this I've been wanting to know for a while: Do the AoE attacks / spells which cover an aread for a time (for example in the WD arsenal, such as WoD) affect monsters who wander into it after it has been cast, or only at casting? For example, would a monster that just wandered into the last half-second of a WoD Communing with Spirits circle still have its damage reduced for 3 seconds, and would it take some DoT?

THANK YOU!

So, DH is EXCELLENT at clearing things. Their multishot build can just destroy large groups of mobs with ease, I absolutely love playing one.That's probably why you can breeze through stuff. I would be worried if your Crus/Wiz cleared faster than a Multishot DH.

As for your WD questions, I've never properly played one to max-level. I have leveled them, geared them to t10 and that's it. It's never been my playstyle at all, so I won't be able to give you a sufficient answer here, sorry!

For your last points, Yes. If they wander over it, they will get affected.

[Ylu 1]

Hey thanks tons!

Last general question (promise! ;-)) There is a Kanai's Cube recipe that lets you add attributes to an ancient item. I've looked at the profiles of the top players in my realm (Europe) and see that their items are all ancient and all have that "Calesdain's Despair Level xxx" attribute, where xxx is some pretty large number. Before I screw anything up, I want to get this straight: I sacrifice a Leg Gem to gain these points, and I get more attribute points the higher the gem level -- my highest is 61, is it even worth it? (Considering that I use that gem a lot!) Can I do the process multiple times on one item, or only one time and the cube adds the highest value? I guess it only makes sense to use it on an ancient item I am sure to keep forever and never exchange for a better one (not that I have a big choice, most of my items are not ancient).

Thank you!

[VYRMAN 1]

Augmenting can only be done on 'Ancient' gear.  You can do it as many times as you want, but it will only keep the highest level gem you use.  So you can use a 60 lvl gem, then later on a 65 and so on.  But you can not use a lower gem than what was previously used - so you can't use a 60 lvl gem after you used a 65 lvl gem.

However, if you say use a lvl 60 gem - to give intelligence, you can still change it to a lvl 60 gem that gives dexterity.

Is it worth it? YES!!!  Since you have up 13 pieces of gear that can be ancient, all those extra points add up!  However, don't use gems you are currently using.   Get a gem you don't use and use those to augment.