Questions from Newb Person

[Valks 2,375]

2 hours ago, VYRMAN said:

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.

Thanks for picking this one up Vyr!

Just to further what they said here, this is why people that don't need lower greater rifts sometimes farm them. You get some nice Paragon XP while still leveling up "useless" legendary gems to be used for augmenting. Never get rid of a gem you're actively using for augmenting.

[Ylu 1]

thank you! I'll try to level another gem then. I need 50+ since none of my build-specific weapons are ancient (I keep getting ancients of stuff I really can't use), and it seems a lot cheaper to augment weapons since you only need a 30+ gem. Does it make sense to try to "reforge" those weapons (in my case: yang's and Sacred Harvester) with that expensive cube recipe and hope an ancient comes out, or does it make more sense to just try and gamble them?

Can I ask you your advice on Unity? I am frequently speccing slightly differently than guides here, going either one item or one skill more for Toughness than you folk, who always go for damage. I'm not sure if I am wasting my time or understanding Unity right. Instead of Convention of Elements on my pet-WD, I have been using Unity so far (and of course another unity on my follower + that cannot-die token). But does that mean that when HE takes damage, I also take 50% of HIS damage, thus netting me pretty much nothing? Or am I correct in assuming that it works as I imagined: he takes half of my damage, but I take none of his?

I finally got GR 69! For me that's new, I was stuck on 68 for a while. Woot! When I hit 70, I will no longer consider myself a total newb and stop pestering you here in this thread... ;-) In the meantime, thank you very much for your help

[Ylu 1]

Just in case:

1. When Rifting, does it make any sense to kill all the members of an elite pack including the minions too, or can I run off after the globes drop? Sometimes it seems like I kill a boss and he drops the globes I need, but then he's still got tough minions left taking my time; do they drop globes too or can I just leave them be?

2. My DH always seems to have Nephalem Glory bonus through those globes going -- always -- and my WD never. I checked, and both have the same amount of magic find (0%), and she is not wearing any item such as those gloves of worship. Can something else affect drop rates?

3. Does Tall Man's Finger also increase the leeching power of Zombie Dogs with Leeching Beast, or only their damage? (If I am using them for the utility of life on hit, do I actually decrease that utility by reducing the number of dogs to 1?)

thank you!

[Valks 2,375]

On 7/11/2016 at 11:18 PM, Ylu said:

thank you! I'll try to level another gem then. I need 50+ since none of my build-specific weapons are ancient (I keep getting ancients of stuff I really can't use), and it seems a lot cheaper to augment weapons since you only need a 30+ gem. Does it make sense to try to "reforge" those weapons (in my case: yang's and Sacred Harvester) with that expensive cube recipe and hope an ancient comes out, or does it make more sense to just try and gamble them?

Can I ask you your advice on Unity? I am frequently speccing slightly differently than guides here, going either one item or one skill more for Toughness than you folk, who always go for damage. I'm not sure if I am wasting my time or understanding Unity right. Instead of Convention of Elements on my pet-WD, I have been using Unity so far (and of course another unity on my follower + that cannot-die token). But does that mean that when HE takes damage, I also take 50% of HIS damage, thus netting me pretty much nothing? Or am I correct in assuming that it works as I imagined: he takes half of my damage, but I take none of his?

I finally got GR 69! For me that's new, I was stuck on 68 for a while. Woot! When I hit 70, I will no longer consider myself a total newb and stop pestering you here in this thread... ;-) In the meantime, thank you very much for your help

I normally wait until I have all the items I need for a build before starting to re-roll for Ancient, but it's definitely worth it on your weapons if you have the mats!

In order to make the unity combo work, you need to have the follower item that means your Templar can't die. This is where you'll see the amazing reduction happening.

Grats on the GR69! :D

On 7/21/2016 at 8:27 AM, Ylu said:

Just in case:

1. When Rifting, does it make any sense to kill all the members of an elite pack including the minions too, or can I run off after the globes drop? Sometimes it seems like I kill a boss and he drops the globes I need, but then he's still got tough minions left taking my time; do they drop globes too or can I just leave them be?

2. My DH always seems to have Nephalem Glory bonus through those globes going -- always -- and my WD never. I checked, and both have the same amount of magic find (0%), and she is not wearing any item such as those gloves of worship. Can something else affect drop rates?

3. Does Tall Man's Finger also increase the leeching power of Zombie Dogs with Leeching Beast, or only their damage? (If I am using them for the utility of life on hit, do I actually decrease that utility by reducing the number of dogs to 1?)

thank you!

The purple globes will drop from the boss in a yellow pack and from the last rare in a blue pack. If they are annoying to kill, just skip them. As soon as that yellow boss dies, move on, unless you can kite those mobs forward or they are insanely low HP. 

Honestly not sure about #2.

This thread might be worth checking out for #3. Personally, I'd take the multiple dogs for their blocking ability.