When to switch from act1 farming to act2-3 farming?

[joacqin]

I have been farming act1 inferno quite a bit now and am demolishing anything act1 can throw at me. I can do act2 without too much trouble but due to frequent deaths and longer time in killing mobs I wonder if it is worth to farm act2 instead of act1. There is also the problem of the prevalence of really annoying mobs in act2 (lacuni stalkers, invisible snakes and wasps I am looking at you) which tends to make any act2 run quite frustrating. I have progressed past everything in act2 and am pretty sure I could just do act3 as well if push comes to shove if it weren't for Gom (I think that is what the poison farting dude is called) who seems to be all but impossible as the game is now.

I have: 54k dmg, 31k hp and on average 55% resistance and play a wizard. Any upgrade now costs me in excess of 1m gold and I just reached 3m gold in total. I do not really understand you lads who are stuck pre-inferno or even pre-act2 inferno. Things are quite manageable there and if you struggle earlier then you are in for a rude awakening (quite a lot of people have stopped in inferno due to the horribly unfair mobs and exceedingly fast deaths but I kinda enjoy the challenge). What I am basically asking is whether the higher droprate of ilvl62-63 items in act2-3 offset the higher repair costs and fewer packs per hour compared to act1?

[Paracelsi]

If you ask me, nope. I've only ever farmed act 2 with a good tanker monk/barb, and as far as act 3 is concerned I'm only interested in progression. I guess I could get to act 4 with a good team, but like everyone else I refuse to progress past the first the first half of act 3 knowing I wouldn't have been able to do it solo. Besides, I refuse to get stuck fighting those fallen angel/mortu casters in act 4 just because my gear isn't good enough (I hear they're a lot worse than lacuni/wasps).

As for pre-inferno, late nightmare and hell is harder atm because elites are smarter, but it's nothing a quick visit to the AH can't fix. I've leveled 3 different characters since my WD reached 60, and they're all level 40+. It's easy if you use a +experience gained set. I spent less than 50k gold on each one except the monk, and they're all doing very well. Problem is, good level 50+ gear can get expensive so I had to stop playing most of them early/mid hell.

[joacqin]

I want to be able to play the game when I progress, not duck and cover as soon as something nasty shows up. Most of the time I play in a group as well and it is much more fun and a tank is very useful.

I found a staff with 902dps and some other stats but the kicker is the -16lvl requirement. I have a 900+ dps staff that can be used by a level 44 character. Am trying to sell it. Is it only wizards who can use staves? I noticed that my barb can not, can a witch doctor? Or do I have to level another character to experience exploding nightmare mobs with a 900dps weapon.

[Paracelsi]

Wow. That's easily worth at least 1m (or much, much more - doubtless that item is gonna attract the attention of a gold buyer, a gold seller, or even one of those leveling service things - and we know how filthy rich those are).

900 dps in nightmare is like bringing a tidal wave to a water pistol fight. AFAIK only WDs, wizards and monks can use staves.

[joacqin]

So, killed Inferno Diablo. Was not that hard. A bunch of mates who are further progressed struggled and I joined their group. Didn't go well so we decided to try solo (basically they wanted to go solo again ). I thought I should try alone as well, bam, killed him like the fourth attempt and my mates are still struggling. Seems like a build and gear that can't really progress past act3 packs had no problem with Diablo while a build and gear that can can pew pew most packs without problem struggle hard. This game is odd. Anyway, feels nice to have killed him even if I lack most of the quest points in act3 and 4.

[Paracelsi]

Nice one.

I can relate to that easy. I have a very specific WD build that I use only in groups and against bosses, and it includes skills like Big Bad Voodoo. Skills like Big Bad Voodoo are nowhere near as useful for solo - yeah you'd demolish the very first group that you encounter, but then you'd be powerless against the next one. In multiplayer though you can just hide behind the tank and call down frogs from the sky in the meantime.

[joacqin]

I found a great video that illustrates Diablo 3 inferno mode and especially my wizard in act 3 and beyond:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEyk6...ature=youtu.be

[The Great Snook]

Originally Posted by joacqin

I found a great video that illustrates Diablo 3 inferno mode and especially my wizard in act 3 and beyond:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEyk6...ature=youtu.be

This may possibly be your greatest post ever. Actually, that may be the best post ever.

[Splunge]

That was both awesome and fowl at the same time.

It also further reinforces my belief that I might not enjoy D3.

[joacqin]

If you have super kiting skills like the kid in the video you will be fine and enjoy it! I would definitely say that the game is worth even if you only play up to hell.

[Marceror]

Originally Posted by joacqin

I found a great video that illustrates Diablo 3 inferno mode and especially my wizard in act 3 and beyond:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEyk6...ature=youtu.be

Perfect! Except for some gaming with my son in normal mode, I haven't played D3 in several weeks. I believe this video explains why far more eloquently than I ever could.

[Paracelsi]

It's somewhat different for certain classes and builds but yeah everyone has to kite some time, even in Coop play.

[The Great Snook]

Where/how do people farm in act 2? I know in act 1 everyone does the butcher, but first clears out the festering woods and cemetaries to get to 5 stacks.

[joacqin]

Well, now that you want XP as well my act1 runs usually mean start at the Cursed Hold, get five stacks, kill warden, kill Butcher and then go and kill as much as you can be arsed.

As for act2 I usually start just before the Kulle fight. Get five stacks, kill Kulle, kill Azmodean (or is it Belial?) and then same as in 1 go around and kill with five stacks until you are bored. I am not sure you get better loot in act2 though. My hardcore mate said 1 and 2 have one loot table while 3 and 4 another. Guess you get more XP though. I just quit D3 in frustration without getting a single stack. Big pack of elite Soul lashers in act3 is no fun, takes me way too many deaths to kill. I am still a long way until I can farm act3 comfortable. Probably mostly since I refuse to get any defensive stats. Offensive is king!

[Paracelsi]

For act 2 farming, I usually start by activating the first branch of The Black Soulstoune quest. Before going into Kulle's Sanctum clear the desert (to get 5 stacks and perhaps kill a few goblins/open a few resplendent chests) then proceed until you kill Kulle. Kill Belial after that, then reset. This is one of my favorite farming routes because of the sheer number of elite/champion groups you come across and you get to kill two bosses while you're at it. I suggest using magic find items if you decide to farm this way though, acts 3 and 4 do have better rares but with magic find you go for quality over quantity and perhaps a few legendary drops.

I plan to skip farming act 3 because the areas generally don't have as many elites as act 2 and there are a lot more demented fallen-type mobs in there. If I'm forced to though, I'll probably do it without magic find. As soon as I get Skorn or a better weapon my main goal is to farm Izual->Diablo.

[The Great Snook]

Over the weekend I spent some money at the auction house and loaded up on cheap gear that was loaded with gold and magic find. Combining that with 5 stacks of Nephalem power and level 10 Paragon and I'm now clearing about 250K profit with every Act 1 run.

On an unrelated note, the AH is really getting difficult to buy and sell things. The things that are uber are hitting the 10s of millions and the things that are decent, but not uber won't even sell for 2500.

I have a crossbow that I paid a million for about a month ago that does 1260ish with close to 300 dex and a couple of other traits that I'm now listing at 150K and not getting any bites.

[joacqin]

I hear you brother. Great stuff sells quickly and sells expensively but anything decent is just so much trash nowadays. My resurgent D3 desire which I hoped would carry me until the release of the new WoW expansion has faded. Done act1 lots and lots and I just don't want to play in the way I need to play to be able to do act3 and onwards without dying to every other elite pack.

[Marceror]

I was done with inferno pretty quickly after I realized what it really was -- a big advertisement as to why the auction house is "essential". I had my fun playing a few characters to level 60, and still occassionally play in normal or nightmare mode with my son, but am otherwise more or less over D3.

My 9 year old has had almost no problems beating normal mode on his own, and now has 3 or 4 characters in nightmare. Not bad.

[Paracelsi]

The new Inferno is very different, there are even WD summoning builds now which actually rely on their pets for tanking/some DPS. It's very different from when minions were only useful for their life on hit proc. In fact, life on hit on minions has been severely nerfed ( much to the annoyance of previous summoner build users I might add). Good tradeoff overall I guess.

The latter part of Act 4 can still be brutal but nowadays all you need to beat Inferno is a well-planned build, decent items and perhaps a certain amount of focus. Farming it, especially the later acts, is another story though.

[joacqin]

Beating stuff isn't that hard, if I aim to beat I don't mind dying or even to run past particularly vicious packs. I meant farming while making a profit.