Saturday 28 July 2012

Diablo 3 - some thoughts, tips and tricks after 60-ish days

So, its been just a bit over two months since the games release, and so far I've gotten three of the give classes to Level 60.  So here's a quick update on what I've been doing in the game.

I started out with a Barbarian, but once I hit 60, and tried to play a bit of Act 1 Inferno.  I quickly realized that I was not geared enough for that level, but instead of grinding it out, I decided to switch to a ranged character.  So I decided on switching to a Wizard, since at the time, we didn't have a high level wizard in the group.

Trying to get to level 60 on your first character is the hardest by far.  The nice thing with Diablo 3 is now your chest stash is shared, along with your gold.  So on your second character, you should have a decent amount of gold, which will allow you to buy items to keep up your gear.  Playing the game naturally (i.e. without dipping into the auction house or have friends give you gear along the way) means that you'll never really have gear that is the same level as your character till you reach far into Inferno difficulty.  As a result, I was able to get my wizard to 60 relatively quick.  Also, I began to use a ruby in the helmet more to get the percentage bonus for experience points to further speed up this process.  It also helped that as I played, I tried to keep decent items that I found on the way that I figure would be useful for other classes.  This and a couple visits to the auction house really helps speed the game up.

Monday 23 July 2012

Offshore & Decomission - July MW3 Maps & Updates

Took some time off Diablo 3 to download the new maps and spent a few hours playing on them.  So here are my thoughts on them.

Offshore - This map has lots of paths to get around.  Although physically the map may not be big, it feels bigger because of this.  Lots of elevation changes as well.  It was hard to get a feel for the flow of the map as it was new to everyone.  But lots of good areas for some intense fire fights.   Although I didn't get to play capture the flag on this map, I imagine it to be quite interesting given all the alternate routes, and their associated cut off points.

Decommission - This map doesn't have as many paths as Offshore, it feels a bit more open compared to Offshore, but there are some interesting spots you can jump to so you can cover the few paths that go around the map.  Except, in those spots you are quite exposed.  So far I noticed a lot of action along the middle section of the map, as everyone tends to gravitate towards the meat shop. 

I also got to spend some time playing Domination in the face-off mode.  The maps do offer quite a bit of action, and with smaller teams, it makes it more important to have a good partner.  But at the same time, I still noticed the spawn points and system in general to still be broken in the face off mode.  Too many times I would spawn really close to where I just died, and being on the receiving end of that is somewhat frustrating.

Terminal gets its second life, this was one of my team's favorite MW2 map.  So we ended up dominating the map like we never left.  There were minor cosmetic changes done in the transition from MW2 to MW3, like the plants are slightly different, and the shops have changed in what they are selling.  This was one of the maps I wish they release with a slight change, like some sort of back path from the outside tarmac to a lower baggage section under the terminal map.  Maybe for MW4...

Either way though, Diablo 3 has me hooked (more on Diablo 3 in my next post), so I haven't been playing COD as much as I normally have or would like to.