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[Kacho]

Diablo 3 had the same issues with scaling during the leveling process. Depending on the difficulty level, you were either super OP or super UP. There was barely no in between because mobs were scaling with you in real time.

In Diablo 3 a legendary would give you an insane power boost. When it outlived its usefulness, you could cube it and keep the benefit. As of right now, Legendaries in Diablo 4 seem way less impactful, for reasons I can't quantify. There are issues under the hood that need to be addressed by devs.

 

[Rentahamster]

When I'm able to get back in I'll accept everyone to the neogaf clan

Thanks! We should try to do a playthrough with new characters before the beta is over.

 

[Beastclaw Raider]

I mean...that's kind of the point to some degree isn't it? Reroll a different character and see how a different build plays. Legendary weapons play a big role in how you can drastically spec your chracter and THAT's what is interesting to me. I want to find out what unique charateristics I can find on gear.

I have a few legendarys that made me completely respec my rogue into a primary trap/vanish character and it's completely different to how I was playing before then and I find it very interesting at the possibilities now. And with how easy it is to respec, I can pop the gear on, respec, try it out for a bit, and if I didn't like it, go right back to what I did like.

Yes it is, I meant in some games like in D2, this was limited and I'm glad they didn't go that route

In D2 for the sorc it was use this build to level up, this build for item finding and then this build for endgame. You couldn't switch all the time. I love how the respecs work, it'll make the game much more interesting imo

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Seeing Diablo 2 fans talk about Diablo 4 repetitiveness and level scaling being bad when they just came from doing Mephisto for the umpteenth time in the same day is laughable and sad at the same time.

Bruh, Izual farm with WW Barb was something for the ages.

 

[Fools idol]

so did anyone ever manage to get the diablo 2 remaster platinum trophy? I remember that shit being ridiculous, like running a hardcore char to max level 99 without dying once or something?

 

[Cyberpunkd]

So level 15 is some small quest for new mechanics - the Sorc one is lame AF.
Specced Barb into Iron Skin, he he, can't touch this.
Hoping Necro and Druid will be interesting.

 

[showernota]

Looks like I'm retiring my Diablo 4 career early.

Spoiler

please don't nerf rogue in retail

 

[samjaza]

Diablo 3 had the same issues with scaling during the leveling process. Depending on the difficulty level, you were either super OP or super UP. There was barely no in between because mobs were scaling with you in real time.

In Diablo 3 a legendary would give you an insane power boost. When it outlived its usefulness, you could cube it and keep the benefit. As of right now, Legendaries in Diablo 4 seem way less impactful, for reasons I can't quantify. There are issues under the hood that need to be addressed by devs.

Yeah, really put me off when they added that to D3, i kind of understand why they did it in D4 because its meant to be openworld, but i think i would rather level scaling within a range or level scaling locked to when entering an area for the first time.

 

[Boneless]

i kind of understand why they did it in D4 because its meant to be openworld

Why does openworld need scaling? Elden Ring doesn't need it and plenty of others. It's a horrible mechanic.

 

[Elder Legend]

Barb. T1 for 10 levels and T2 the rest of the way.

I am doing Barb again on HC with T2 right from the get go. I've probably lost about 3 Barbs already. However, all these deaths have taught me better to optimize my builds for both DPS and survivability.

What I found works really well early on for Barb is getting 2 points in Lunging Strike as soon as possible. Then put 1 point into Upheaval (its insanely powerful AoE, but you have train as many mobs as possible for maximum kill efficiency and round them up and it will 1 shot them on T2 even at 1/5 rank) then max out your Lunging Strike to 5/5 asap, after that max out your Upheaval.

Once both of those are maxed, you can kind of start going a bit more freedom with builds, but those 2 really help. I've tried Bash, its horrible for HC, but does dps and the stun is useless when there are millions of mobs around. Lunging Strike let's you attack from a distance, so you can use it as early on mobility tool as well, even on destrucbile environment to get away from shit. And once it's maxed out, it even hits the champions/elite mobs hard as well.

I did both dungeons while leveling between level 7 and 10 - Mercy's Reach and Forbidden City on T2 that are located on the top left side of the map. I still had to play careful obviously, but the build was good enough to kill the bosses and survive their hard hitting abilities.

I am starting to love the Barbarian now. I tried every ability so far, and Lunging Strike seems to be the best for your auto attack early on. Flay can be good, but it takes years for the bleed to kill a single mob. Frenzy is not good early game and relies heavily on getting 2 good 1 handed weapons due to dual wielding. With Lunging Strike you only need to focus on a good 2 hander.

Excited too see how far I can take this Barbarian!

 

[Macattk15]

I wouldn't get too used to doing that. It may work in the lower levels but, in a November IGN interview (9:25 mark if the link screws up), Rod Fergusson stated full respecs will reach a point where they're so expensive that you'd be better off rolling a completely new character and starting over.

If they decide to do that, I won't even play the game. What kind of backassward design is that?

You can make the cost high to make it meaningful ... but to the point of making a new character being more cost / time effective? That's really really dumb.

Dungeon layouts? Copy and pasted and horrible.

The open world scaling is not fun. The mob density can be severely lacking in some areas and then complete opposite in another.

The skill trees are HORRIBLE .... two choices to augment the ability you choose to use? A bunch of boring passives? 6 ability buttons .... one being an ultimate that EVERY character will use (give it a separate button)?

They can fix some of this before the actual release ... but will they? I doubt it.

Obviously we're only 25 at the end of the beta but some of the issues the game has are GLARING.

 

[Beastclaw Raider]

So level 15 is some small quest for new mechanics - the Sorc one is lame AF.
Specced Barb into Iron Skin, he he, can't touch this.
Hoping Necro and Druid will be interesting.

Iron skin is a must, free defense and healing

 

[Kacho]

Yeah, really put me off when they added that to D3, i kind of understand why they did it in D4 because its meant to be openworld, but i think i would rather level scaling within a range or level scaling locked to when entering an area for the first time.

I prefer zones to have specific mlvl ranges like in Diablo 2. I think they're going with D3 type scaling so you don't trivialize the world as you progress. In theory I love it, but in practice it has a detrimental impact on character power progression.

At least that's my opinion based on the beta. We still haven't engaged with other key progression systems, which could have a huge impact on character power.

 

[MirageMew2]

Rogue absolutely wrecks and is decently versatile from early on. Drops consistently had me respecing from a melee focused Energy regen to ranged vulnerability/crit focus and so forth. One leg gives Flurry a 360 radius and I felt like I could make something reminiscent of a D3 DH strafe build. Another leg gives Shadow Step essentially a Crusader spinning hammer lol

This next weekend can't come soon enough. A bit tempted to get back into Immortal.

 

[jshackles]

A bit tempted to get back into Immortal.

 

[MirageMew2]

I love Kim's Convenience

D2R is $12 on Switch right now I think I'll make a better decision haha

 

[Fools idol]

calling it now - the game is far too easy, and will be one of its biggest downfalls when it comes to the reviews and general fan reception.

I know it's beta, but the slower pace of the combat and the abundance of AOE domination for sorcerer is just far too much. They need to drastically reduce its power or make enemies a lot faster.

 

[amigastar]

How many hours left the beta will be playable?

 

[sobaka770]

calling it now - the game is far too easy, and will be one of its biggest downfalls when it comes to the reviews and general fan reception.

I know it's beta, but the slower pace of the combat and the abundance of AOE domination for sorcerer is just far too much. They need to drastically reduce its power or make enemies a lot faster.

Sorcerer is OP, try barb and cry.

 

[Beastclaw Raider]

How many hours left the beta will be playable?

24 hours I believe, 3pm PDT March 20

 

[amigastar]

24 hours I believe, 3pm PDT March 20

Nice, thanks will enjoy it some more.

 

[Minsc]

The level 20 wolf pup reward is for the open beta as well right? It doesn't specify in the OP, just checking.

 

[Beastclaw Raider]

I think I'll just toy a bit again later tonight and try druid next weekend but I'm glad having preordered it

 

[njean777]

I got to level 20, I assume you get the puppy when the game comes out since it is on my account that I hit level 20 in the beta?

 

[Beastclaw Raider]

The level 20 wolf pup reward is for the open beta as well right? It doesn't specify in the OP, just checking.

Yep, closed or open you just need to reach 20

 

[ANDS]

Legit do not get the level scaling complaints. Enemies you encounter in lower level areas die to one cast of your first resource required skill and enemies in higher regions actually take some effort especially when mixed with elite enemies. Like this:

It's Division and Destiny on top of Diablo. If you like that kind of open world non-stop sponge fighting in a Diablo game, it's terrific. If you like Diablo, skip?

I posted before that the game is so dang broken that thanks to difficulty scaling, you can keep level 1 gear on (never changing it) and you'll actually be fine. Loot is cosmetic only outside of the bonuses you can get. It's the most broken ARPG I've ever played.

Is complete and utter bullshit, and I'm beginning to think its just people knowingly tossing out garbage because this isn't "the Diablo they grew up with." There is nothing similar about the below two pictures other than the character playing:

Killing that bear at level 22 with no-level requirement gear was exactly as tedious as you'd think it was, versus just nuking it with the gear you pick up playing the game. Like, if you don't like level scaling as a rule, just say that. Don't make up shit just to thread-poop all over the place.

As of right now, Legendaries in Diablo 4 seem way less impactful, for reasons I can't quantify. There are issues under the hood that need to be addressed by devs.

Because legendaries aren't even the penultimate level for items. No real mystery about it or anything that needs to be "addressed."

. . .folks really need to stop figuring out this game in terms of what they THINK the game should be doing and instead focus on what it is.

 

[Luipadre]

The amount of content in this game is pretty wild. Even the first biome is big with tons of shit and there are 4 more biomes that are even bigger than this one. First playthrough will be 150+ hours for me based on this beta.

 

[Kacho]

There you have it folks. ANDS has come to lord over any criticism like he does in every thread.

 

[Nydius]

If they decide to do that, I won't even play the game. What kind of backassward design is that?

You can make the cost high to make it meaningful ... but to the point of making a new character being more cost / time effective? That's really really dumb.

In a later post I agreed; I think there needs to be a better middle ground. Having said that, my fear, based on the way triple-A, live service games are designed, is this will end up being a way to push micro transactions.

Would anyone be surprised if "respec tokens" showed up in the premium battle pass or the cash shop? Grind for ridiculous amounts of gold or pony up real cash for a bundle of respec tokens.

I hope I'm wrong but it's hard not to be cynical.

 

[Rentahamster]

I am doing Barb again on HC with T2 right from the get go. I've probably lost about 3 Barbs already. However, all these deaths have taught me better to optimize my builds for both DPS and survivability.

What I found works really well early on for Barb is getting 2 points in Lunging Strike as soon as possible. Then put 1 point into Upheaval (its insanely powerful AoE, but you have train as many mobs as possible for maximum kill efficiency and round them up and it will 1 shot them on T2 even at 1/5 rank) then max out your Lunging Strike to 5/5 asap, after that max out your Upheaval.

Once both of those are maxed, you can kind of start going a bit more freedom with builds, but those 2 really help. I've tried Bash, its horrible for HC, but does dps and the stun is useless when there are millions of mobs around. Lunging Strike let's you attack from a distance, so you can use it as early on mobility tool as well, even on destrucbile environment to get away from shit. And once it's maxed out, it even hits the champions/elite mobs hard as well.

I did both dungeons while leveling between level 7 and 10 - Mercy's Reach and Forbidden City on T2 that are located on the top left side of the map. I still had to play careful obviously, but the build was good enough to kill the bosses and survive their hard hitting abilities.

I am starting to love the Barbarian now. I tried every ability so far, and Lunging Strike seems to be the best for your auto attack early on. Flay can be good, but it takes years for the bleed to kill a single mob. Frenzy is not good early game and relies heavily on getting 2 good 1 handed weapons due to dual wielding. With Lunging Strike you only need to focus on a good 2 hander.

Excited too see how far I can take this Barbarian!

From what I've tested, my tank barb build got unkillable once I got the legendary aspect that provides you with a barrier when you do damage and the aspect that adds fortify life for every excess point of fury you gain above max. I paired that with damage reduction frenzy (or damage reduction flay), war cry (+HP version), iron skin (healing version), and that death blow skill. I could pretty much faceroll anything aside from the World Boss.

 

[Schmendrick]

. . .folks really need to stop figuring out this game in terms of what they THINK the game should be doing and instead focus on what it is.

You've just invalidated every opinion except those of the developers.
That's not how opinions... Or objective reviews work. If we went with this nonsense every game would be a 10 / 10...

 

[Melchettsmoustache]

I don't really see how we can comment effectively on mob scaling at this point when we only have access to one area, and no real idea one what the higher Ilevel gear will do against them.

by the time paragon levels etc are dropped in we will be face rolling bounties in short order again I expect.

 

[ANDS]

You've just invalidated every opinion except those of the developers.
That's not how opinions... Or objective reviews work. If we went with this nonsense every game would be a 10 / 10...

Uhm, no. Saying people should criticize the game as it actually is (you know like calling Blue "Blue" and not "Green") is not invalidating anyone's opinion. It's asking people to actually be CORRECT when trying to drag something (or fluff it up for that matter). Saying that gear does nothing because level scaling is in the game is an objectively wrong statement.

. . .there's a number things wrong with the game, it's just wild to get twisty about asking people to criticize the stuff that is actually true.

There you have it folks. ANDS has come to lord over any criticism like he does in every thread.

If you want to moan about the rate of Legendaries (in a beta) as if Legendaries are the highest obtainable item, by all means do so. Doesn't mean someone else isn't going to point out what a silly comment that is given what we know about the game (and just how D3 worked).

Would anyone be surprised if "respec tokens" showed up in the premium battle pass or the cash shop? Grind for ridiculous amounts of gold or pony up real cash for a bundle of respec tokens.

I would, as they've said that's exactly not how the BP will work and someone can easily point to the numerous comments from the devs that they wouldn't do something like this.

 

[Spukc]

Fucking nailed the demo all chars max lvl

 

[amigastar]

Fucking nailed the demo all chars max lvl

Not bad. I'm currently lvl 18 Barbarian and played a good chunk.

 

[Spukc]

I changed my fun factor to

1 barb
2 rouge
3 snorting shit
4 browing on ree
5 playing sorc

 

[Mephisto40]

I've manged to get a Barb and a Sorcerer up to level 25

Really enjoying the Beta, its better than I expected, can't wait for the full release

I'll probable level a Necromancer next weekend and then that'll do me until the full game comes out

Actually pretty bummed these characters are just gonna get deleted

 

[Kacho]

You've just invalidated every opinion except those of the developers.
That's not how opinions... Or objective reviews work. If we went with this nonsense every game would be a 10 / 10...

That's just how ANDS is. He hovers over threads and picks fights with people. He still hasn't figured out how to engage people without being condescending. He's pointless to talk to or take seriously.

 

[Spukc]

progress goes with you next beta weekend.
so imma max necro first after that druid

then i will wait until release

 

[SRTtoZ]

I sort of shit on the in game cutscene graphics and I still stand by that but god damn are the environments gorgeous. Going through a dungeon in a snowy old castle with the lighting and all that is fucking gorgeous. They killed it with the art style for sure and this might be the first Diablo game where I want to see where the story goes.

Also, Chain Lightning is <3. I feel like Thrall.

 

[Mephisto40]

 

[dorkimoe]

I probably wont make it to 20

I made a Sorcerer cuz i plan on playing a rogue for retail and figured it would be a good time to try something new.

My only complaint so far is this better get optimized better, a RTX3080 and 32gb of ram shouldnt stutter this much

 

[Mossybrew]

Well Ive been having fun, no real complaints, its more Diablo and Im easy to please in that regard. Sorcerer kinda spoiled me, tried playing a barb after that and its just ugh. I miss the weird antics of Witch Doctor, but Im curious about the Druid. Kind of a bummer progress will be wiped, but thats to be expected.

 

[Ogbert]

Initially thought sorc sucked ass, but frost mage is fun.

 

[Spukc]

Well Ive been having fun, no real complaints, its more Diablo and Im easy to please in that regard. Sorcerer kinda spoiled me, tried playing a barb after that and its just ugh. I miss the weird antics of Witch Doctor, but Im curious about the Druid. Kind of a bummer progress will be wiped, but thats to be expected.

Progress will stay for next weekend

 

[amigastar]

What i like is that when you farm some decent items you share it with your next character trough shared stash and the game becomes easier.
What i wanted to ask, does the sorceress have a possibility to harvest mana or does it replenish by itself?

 

[TrebleShot]

I sort of shit on the in game cutscene graphics and I still stand by that but god damn are the environments gorgeous. Going through a dungeon in a snowy old castle with the lighting and all that is fucking gorgeous. They killed it with the art style for sure and this might be the first Diablo game where I want to see where the story goes.

Also, Chain Lightning is <3. I feel like Thrall.

Completely agree and not a ray traced in sight , prefer actual manufactured lighting to RT in my opinion and this game looks great with the baked lighting.

 

[bender]

calling it now - the game is far too easy, and will be one of its biggest downfalls when it comes to the reviews and general fan reception.

I know it's beta, but the slower pace of the combat and the abundance of AOE domination for sorcerer is just far too much. They need to drastically reduce its power or make enemies a lot faster.

Slower mana regen could be a solution.

 

[Spukc]

 

[Rentahamster]

Is dropped loot only visible to onesself? I dropped a bunch of rares in town, and no one touches them.