Diablo IV Time to Play! Clan Name: DarkMattters -> Clan Tag: DarK

[gogoblender 3,070]

I 

14 hours ago, Timotheus said:

Same here with work I guess. Spent the evening on Monday with my better half, Tuesday I had a team building session with dinner after so I wasn't home until 22.00 (10PM), and today I had to take the car in for maintenance which meant I had to catch up with work tonight.  I'm tempted to jump on for a bit (21.45 here, 9.45PM) but I know I'm not going to get anything done really.

side quests man...side quests!!... theyre so fun, and they're delightfully varied.. and diablo 4's maps is so huge.. very satisfying when you get to travel all over the area and see the country sides

who doesnt want a little vacation right ?

 

gogo

[Timotheus 416]

Bellatrix, my first character (Necromancer) will hit 50 if I can continue the campaign today.

Yesterday I finished a few more sidequests to get all territorial rewards in the Dry Steppes. I ran into a familiar face while questing. I won't spoil the surprise for anyone else but that was a fight that proved quite the challenge even on tier 1. As challenging as it was on the old game? Maybe not but I'm not sure I could have managed this fight on tier 2.

Also I've encountered my second bugged quest... Thankfully it's merely a side quest so I'm able to abandon it and try again, which helped me finish the other one.

[gogoblender 3,070]

4 hours ago, Timotheus said:

Bellatrix, my first character (Necromancer) will hit 50 if I can continue the campaign today.

Yesterday I finished a few more sidequests to get all territorial rewards in the Dry Steppes. I ran into a familiar face while questing. I won't spoil the surprise for anyone else but that was a fight that proved quite the challenge even on tier 1. As challenging as it was on the old game? Maybe not but I'm not sure I could have managed this fight on tier 2.

Also I've encountered my second bugged quest... Thankfully it's merely a side quest so I'm able to abandon it and try again, which helped me finish the other one.

yeeks...bugged quest... ugh, after sodden mass, I think bugged quests terrify me more than any boss

And... i made it through FINALLY laaate last night... i had to commit but felt good to take down lillith! I'm watching this video now... this dude is a deep player for years now, and hes got some tips on how to level faster... I think I have the ability to play night mare now, and sanctified items start dropping? Time to get rid of me old clunky armor

gogo

[lujate 578]

The Butcher 1.  lujate 0.

I'm not sure I'm ready for Tier 2.  Tier 1 is too easy, while Tier 2 is too hard. 

[gogoblender 3,070]

what i did was play mobs in tier 2, then switch to tier one for bosses, then switch back to tier two for mobs... also, when facing bosses, swig a potion...they last thirty minutes and have varied effects,, usually a combo of enhanced xp and one mod... like tons of extra armor, attack speed, etc

that build i took from max roll was so good...ice shards..  it was able to handle bosses nicely at level two as well

 

gogo

[Timotheus 416]

The weird thing is, he hit *HARD* when I was the target, but attacks towards my minions seemed to do less damage?

I had to kite him non-stop, there was no standing still!

[gogoblender 3,070]

Let’s join up later we can gang up on him together!,

i’m currently in a constant battle with the penitent knights from the capstone dungeon… Those guys are crazy on level 54 and they can almost one hit take out all my HP!!

🤩

gogo

[claudius 104]

I was struggling main quest and even some side quest or "aspect reward dungeons" on bosses.  I am an earth druid and I read forums with a keyboard search "earth druid builds" or something and I found a few tweaks I can make.  I'm not wanting to follow a build guide, because I find tinkering for challenge part of the fun, but I don't mind ideas.  The tweaks I made (won't describe entire build) was to take wolves with 1 point in them as distraction instead of ravens for additional DPS (to landslide) and some other tweaks like trying to focus more on landslide rather than a point here and a point there.  Another idea was to focus on "fortify" which appears in druid several places including earth druid skills.  Then I look for gear that has "fortify" to it as well or gear that has effects when 'fortify' is present.

Also being underpowered (even in WT 1) lead me to learn to enchant my gear.  The second enchant is too expensive for now but the first enchant on an item is relatively cheap such that my whole gear always has level 1 enchant.

Also found the mystery guy that appears in dungeons.  He reminded me of Toxeus from Titan Quest: "oh what a cool looking champion....oops I'm dead!"

Also something just about druids is a big feature of their class abilities is behind completing a stronghold area (Tur Dulra) and then after that they can start building up "boons" to their class build (pick and choose boons).  Other classes have their own special features but I think druid is unusual in that it's behind a discover/conquest

Edited June 16, 2023 by claudius

[Timotheus 416]

With enchanting, do you mean replacing one of the boni or do you mean upgrading through the blacksmith? I always run 3 upgrades on the gear I want to use for longer. I keep my veiled crystals at around 15 so I can upgrade 2-3 item pieces if needed to. If I have that many, either by finding them, quest rewards or through the blacksmith, that's when I start selling rare gear. Oh and as for upgrading: at the gemologist - or whatever you call that person - you can do the same to jewellery.

With the enemies scaling to your clevel so well I find it quite difficult comprehending or to get a feel for the progress of levelling up your skilltree.

The strongholds can be quite a pain though. I have two areas open that are I think 3 levels above my clevel consistently (on purpose?).

 

Anyway, jumping in just a sidenote: if we do voicechat my mic might be scuffed a bit. The pop foam was already disintegrating, so I threw it away. Means it might be a bit 'poppier' when I talk with P's and T's. 

[lujate 578]

Changing Tier takes you back to the main town, so that's not something I want to flip-flop.

 

@claudius 

Strongholds are always 2 levels above me, but I haven't found them any more difficult than dungeons.  The big takeaway from unlocking the Druid class mechanic was just how far away it was.  It was quite the hike to get there.

I don't know what an earth Druid is.  What's your core skill?

FWIW, I'm using Storm Strike builder and Shred (werewolf) core, plus Blood Howl, Poison Creeper, barrier, and wolves.

[claudius 104]

1 hour ago, lujate said:

Changing Tier takes you back to the main town, so that's not something I want to flip-flop.

 

@claudius 

Strongholds are always 2 levels above me, but I haven't found them any more difficult than dungeons.  The big takeaway from unlocking the Druid class mechanic was just how far away it was.  It was quite the hike to get there.

I don't know what an earth Druid is.  What's your core skill?

FWIW, I'm using Storm Strike builder and Shred (werewolf) core, plus Blood Howl, Poison Creeper, barrier, and wolves.

Earth Druid isn't necessarily a known jargon for a type of build, but you can find via google people referring to earth skills.  In the abilities tooltips it is tagged as either earth or storm (or werewolf or were bear) and both earth and storm are tagged as nature.  Some of the gear and other talents/nodes refers to 'earth skill'.  So my build is using: a basic skill tagged earth - earth spike.  I could use another basic skill to build up spirit but I'm going "all earth" just because it feels like the right choice to me.  So I also use Earthen Bulwark (tagged earth) instead of cyclone armor or another defensive skill.  My ultimate is petrify also tagged earth.  And my wrath skill is boulder (earth), and this one I like because I feel a little like I'm "bowling".  The key piece of the build though is landslide which I am supporting with talents that allow it to deal damage and get spirit recharged moreso.  

 

I'm just starting out now so I may change things depending how it goes later.  I finally hit level 31 and around that time unlocked my boons from the druid stronghold quest line.  I had just enough gas in the tank to clear that stronghold (zero potions left I believe and on the edge hoping potions drop from adds as the battles raged onward).

 

One thing I wish the game had for respeccing builds is an option to only remove a few points to respecc.  Right now you can pay gold to respecc the entire build and it starts cheap but then increases.  But I would like to tinker with just a few points and then play and compare.  

Edited June 17, 2023 by claudius

[Timotheus 416]

Oh yesterday I managed to clear the vampire stronghold. I completely missed an in-game comment as to why certain structures were immune to damage. After getting that comment this time, it was smooth sailing.

Yesterday I realised that at clevel 50 I still run an amulet with ilevel 26 just because of the legendary aspect. Speaking of those aspects: did you know that with similar legendary aspects on items, the inferior one gets cancelled? They don't stack or are handled side-by-side. Also, adding aspects on jewellery generally gets you a bonus, read the description carefully. I would get 2 extra skeleton warriors on any compatible item, unless with an amulet where I would get 3!

[gogoblender 3,070]

15 hours ago, claudius said:

Earth Druid isn't necessarily a known jargon for a type of build, but you can find via google people referring to earth skills.  In the abilities tooltips it is tagged as either earth or storm (or werewolf or were bear) and both earth and storm are tagged as nature.  Some of the gear and other talents/nodes refers to 'earth skill'.  So my build is using: a basic skill tagged earth - earth spike.  I could use another basic skill to build up spirit but I'm going "all earth" just because it feels like the right choice to me.  So I also use Earthen Bulwark (tagged earth) instead of cyclone armor or another defensive skill.  My ultimate is petrify also tagged earth.  And my wrath skill is boulder (earth), and this one I like because I feel a little like I'm "bowling".  The key piece of the build though is landslide which I am supporting with talents that allow it to deal damage and get spirit recharged moreso.  

 

I'm just starting out now so I may change things depending how it goes later.  I finally hit level 31 and around that time unlocked my boons from the druid stronghold quest line.  I had just enough gas in the tank to clear that stronghold (zero potions left I believe and on the edge hoping potions drop from adds as the battles raged onward).

 

One thing I wish the game had for respeccing builds is an option to only remove a few points to respecc.  Right now you can pay gold to respecc the entire build and it starts cheap but then increases.  But I would like to tinker with just a few points and then play and compare.  

Im loving reading your druid build posts! This game has so many ways to approach it, and youre careful and methodical way forward is great reading , im getting to see the country side of this game via you in rich technicolor :D... Also, the way you describe enchantments seems to be very different from the way its done for my sorc., and the build concepts are very different... they really gave the classes differing ways of playing out, very dif from diablo 3!
ahhh, respec and gold.. yah i found it very expensive as well claudius, because i used t just refund all...but i found a way to just do the exact point or points you want..just right click on the point itself in the skill tree and it will retract that one single skill point at a lower price

 

gogo

[gogoblender 3,070]

15 minutes ago, Timotheus said:

Oh yesterday I managed to clear the vampire stronghold. I completely missed an in-game comment as to why certain structures were immune to damage. After getting that comment this time, it was smooth sailing.

Yesterday I realised that at clevel 50 I still run an amulet with ilevel 26 just because of the enchantment. Speaking of enchantments: did you know that with similar enchantments on items, the inferior one gets cancelled? They don't stack or are handled side-by-side. Also, adding enchantments on jewellery generally gets you a bonus, read the description carefully. I would get 2 extra skeleton warriors on any compatible item, unless with an amulet where I would get 3!

Let me see the level of my aspects ive been imprinting on items, i didnt know they had levels!

 

gogo

[claudius 104]

I should clarify on enchantments I mean the three levels of enhancement you can pay the blacksmith to do.  I guess it's a bad word to refer to because Sorcerers have 'enchantment' as part of their class like druids have 'boons'.

@Timotheus regarding stacking of 'enchantments' are you talking about gear items you could call them "modifiers"?  Like if I wear one ring that is damage resistance to fire and then a second that is damage resistance to fire does one cancel out?  That would be a departure from what I have gotten used to in games! 

[lujate 578]

gogo is right, you can remove individual points (Triangle IIRC), but you can only remove so many low level points because the higher tiers depend on them.

Legendary aspects aren't all equal.  They have a range of powers, and the one's in the Codex are always the weakest of that range.

 

I played around with all the skills.  When I found Shred, Enter the Underworld!  It was love at first sight.  I found the werewolf builder lackluster, so I don't use that one. 

There's a Tornado legendary that causes them to auto-track enemies.  If that drops for me, I'd prob respec.  Otherwise I'm happy with Shred.

[Timotheus 416]

On 6/17/2023 at 6:07 PM, claudius said:

I should clarify on enchantments I mean the three levels of enhancement you can pay the blacksmith to do.  I guess it's a bad word to refer to because Sorcerers have 'enchantment' as part of their class like druids have 'boons'.

@Timotheus regarding stacking of 'enchantments' are you talking about gear items you could call them "modifiers"?  Like if I wear one ring that is damage resistance to fire and then a second that is damage resistance to fire does one cancel out?  That would be a departure from what I have gotten used to in games! 

I use the term "upgrades" for the upgrades to your items which correspond with the yellow stars you get on items at the blacksmith.

The "modifiers" are what I would call the special item attributes for magic, rare, legendary etc items.

And then there are the legendary modifiers, which you can also add to other items through the codex of power, containing the so-called aspects you earn from special dungeons or by extracting the aspects of legendary items, destroying the original item in the process. Here, I guess aspects is the best term because these special modifiers are unavailable to lower level items.

And I should use "enchanting" to mean the process of replacing one item modifier with any choice of 3 other modifiers, I've edited my post to better reflect the different terminology.

 

So with regards to my original comment, I meant to say the legendary aspects (item modifiers) don't stack. For instance, if I have:

one legendary item which gives me +2 Skeleton Warriors ;

another which gives +3 Skeleton Warriors ;

I end up with only the +3 Skeleton Warriors aspect being active instead of both the +2 and +3 Skeleton Warriors active. Essentially this means a special legendary aspect is wasted in my setup.

 

As a sidenote: No d4 for me today, and probably none tomorrow. Going to enjoy a concert with my parents for Fathersday and my mum's birthday.

[Knuckles 904]

On skill points, you can remove only 1 point at a time. Just right-click on the one you want to get rid of. (as long as it isn't keeping a node alive which another skill needs). I've re-arranged skills several times and didn't notice that the skill bar won't auto-fill new skill if you haven't fully removed old skill from same node yet. Almost died a few times to that.

I haven't run into a bugged quest yet but I've had a couple where I had to respond using emotes and the correct one wasn't in wheel. Had to add one for a quest called 'Keeping with Old Traditions' (not sure if that is the exact title but it's close).

 

I do want to know who the heck is Katra...I hear her voice often in the Dry Steppes area. I think she is related to Barb class quest and for some reason I'm hearing her as a Druid. Got to be a bug.

 

I've probably levelled a dozen toons to lvl25 or so before I decide I don't like the build-out and lose interest. I know I can re-spec and it's cheap at that level but for some reason I prefer to restart. Must be my old gaming habits from Diablo 1 & 2 and Sacred. But I finally hit on a build I really like.

 

I have to say Poison Creeper for the Druid is probably his most effective skill. Usually not a big damage-over-time guy but wow does it clear groups quickly. Storm Strike and Shred are my 2 Core skills with Poison Creeper. Hurricane and Cataclysm as my big Area of Effect's. If I set all 3 Area of Effect's off at once, very little survives except Bosses and some Elites. I'm on WT1 though so who knows how well this build will fare in higher Tiers

[lujate 578]

@Knuckles For Shred, check out Aspect of the Unsatiated in the Codex.

 

[Timotheus 416]

14 hours ago, Knuckles said:

I do want to know who the heck is Katra...I hear her voice often in the Dry Steppes area.

That is one issue I encountered as well. I kept looking around to see if someone was following me because I was quite busy with side quests and sometimes I lose track of what I'm supposed to do

[gogoblender 3,070]

On 6/18/2023 at 6:57 PM, Knuckles said:

On skill points, you can remove only 1 point at a time. Just right-click on the one you want to get rid of. (as long as it isn't keeping a node alive which another skill needs). I've re-arranged skills several times and didn't notice that the skill bar won't auto-fill new skill if you haven't fully removed old skill from same node yet. Almost died a few times to that.

I haven't run into a bugged quest yet but I've had a couple where I had to respond using emotes and the correct one wasn't in wheel. Had to add one for a quest called 'Keeping with Old Traditions' (not sure if that is the exact title but it's close).

 

I do want to know who the heck is Katra...I hear her voice often in the Dry Steppes area. I think she is related to Barb class quest and for some reason I'm hearing her as a Druid. Got to be a bug.

 

I've probably levelled a dozen toons to lvl25 or so before I decide I don't like the build-out and lose interest. I know I can re-spec and it's cheap at that level but for some reason I prefer to restart. Must be my old gaming habits from Diablo 1 & 2 and Sacred. But I finally hit on a build I really like.

 

I have to say Poison Creeper for the Druid is probably his most effective skill. Usually not a big damage-over-time guy but wow does it clear groups quickly. Storm Strike and Shred are my 2 Core skills with Poison Creeper. Hurricane and Cataclysm as my big Area of Effect's. If I set all 3 Area of Effect's off at once, very little survives except Bosses and some Elites. I'm on WT1 though so who knows how well this build will fare in higher Tiers

 

On 6/19/2023 at 8:29 AM, Timotheus said:

That is one issue I encountered as well. I kept looking around to see if someone was following me because I was quite busy with side quests and sometimes I lose track of what I'm supposed to do

lol!!! guys I think that voice over my shoulders thing would definitely have spooked me out... wearing headphones for me is a new thing, i love the immersion, but it sure can spook us out !

I totally blew out my whole weekend budget on this game... then again... the diablo franchise is pretty much the only game i really play... a decent excuse right? :4rofl:....welll, i yah i feel a bit guilty too...but i just wanted to get to level 60 where royal gems have a chance of dropping , unfortunately we can only craft them at level 70 ... trying to be patient  ... Im loving the endgame content... having to do bounties is awesome, and the new items for this level are good ole diablo style...thoughtful and exciting...  as diablo 3, the effectiveness of a build has been my greatest draw, and seeing everything go splat at once never gets tiring... alas  
And... my cousin Umesh just picked up the game... he's Jaken and hes just starting up

i  wont be able to play Diablo 4 as of this Saturday coming up till July 1st, ill be on holidays down in Bethesda MD  with ma mommy ...i tried to run this game on my surface laptop 2..it  can put up some imagery but the thing is so sluggy... not gonna do ... instead of gaming im gonna focus on my margarita consumption

gogo

[Timotheus 416]

I finished the fourth act yesterday, and spent the rest of my time fiddling with gear. Made some expensive mistake, but I'll get over it.

They made Andy such a cool boss! Really liked the different stages, very nice artwork! Although I really miss the way poison attacks worked back in D2

Going to try and finish my playthrough this weekend, hope it works out.

[Timotheus 416]

I've been trying to get in for half an hour now. Read up on issues and apparently there's been a DDoS attack for hours...

[gogoblender 3,070]

Ddos... against blizzard

gogo

[Knuckles 904]

Same prob here. Today was the one day could devote some gaming time to D4. Tried all morning to get in/monitor situation before giving up.