Diablo III 1.05 Patch - 2 weeks in

So its been a couple weeks since the latest Diablo Patch has come out, and having spent a decent amount of time within the various monster power levels, here are my thoughts on the latest changes & additions.

Updates to Existing Events.

So a few patches ago, they disabled the effect that a player's magic find stat had on chests, so 99% of the time, the big glowing chest was just a huge sign of disappointment for the players.  In this latest patch, they took a step back, and now a player's magic find stat does have an affect on what comes out of the chest, plus it becomes affected when a player has five nephalim valor stacks.  Another nice thing that Blizzard has added is that these chests count as a valor stack, so if you have three, opening the chest will give you the fourth stack.  If you are at five stack, it will reset the countdown timer.

In addition to the changes to the resplendent chests, the random side events have also been reworked with a similar mechanic.  Completing these side quests will now grant a valor stack, and they now all end with a unique monster.  I am unsure if the valor stacks affect the quality of drops from these unique monsters, but from what I have experienced, its been a mixed bag of a bunch of blue items, to getting a legendary item from another.

Diablo 3 - Phoenixrage's Demon Hunter Guide - updated

So I play quite a bit of D3, and I check out the Diablo Sub reddit when I'm not playing.  My main character is the Demon Hunter, and I see a lot of people still with questions on what to do with the Demon Hunter once you reach Inferno and even in general.  So I'm going to try my best to remember how things were early on for me as a Demon Hunter in D3, and hopefully get some tips for those people who are still relatively new to the game and or the character.

Things to keep in mind, my first character was a Barb, and second was a Wizard, the Demon Hunter was my third level 60 character, and ended up being the one I picked to be my main as things moved forward with paragon levels.  I also leveled my Demon Hunter around the 1.03 patch, so some things may not apply now, but its just how I remember it.  (warning, this maybe a really, really long post).

Borderlands 2 Review

Looking back, the original Borderlands was such an epic game.  Many hours were spent wandering around Pandora.  It had great co-op play, great characters and script.  The FPS mechanics were just as good as any top tier shooter, so you're never left frustrated with the game mechanics.  A few years have passed since then, and now the sequel has finally arrived!.  So does the new one live up to expectations?

Diablo 3 - moving forward

So after a few hundred hours in Diablo 3, I’ve begin to think about what I’d like to see added.

Here are some of the things I’d like to see added and/or change to Diablo 3.

More Items, More legendary items, More variation in artwork.

Currently for rare items, there’s only one set of artwork for each character at a given item level.  I would like to at least see all types of items available at i63.  Example: 2H crossbow -The stat between the two items maybe similar, but one could look like the current hellion crossbow, but another could look like a stonebow.  So at least they look different visually.

I’d also want to see a much wider varity of items and legendary items mixed in the pool.  Currently, there’s only one really desirable 2H crossbow.  I’d like to see more added to the mix so not all top tier demon hunters are using the same manticore or windforce.

I would also like to be able to dye all armor to any color I want.  This will also help add to player customization.  Maybe for the demon hunter’s cloak, the player’s banner would show up as a pattern, and it would apply to shields as well?

MW3 - last batch of maps

The last maps have been released for MW3.  Gulch, Parish and Boardwalk.

For those who did not subscribe to Elite, then you also get to play on Decommission and Offshore.

Parish, is a really small and tight map.  Very basic, and only handful of small paths that basically cut through a large ring.  There is no elevation change, no second story building or hallway to get a higher vantage point.  It is a fairly hectic map given its size and you can really catch the other team just off their spawn if you time your run through properly.  Its very easy to get over run in a position because of how fast it is to get from one side to another.

Borderlands - A look back

It was fall of 2009, and at that time, I wasn’t actively keeping up with gaming news outside of the few games that I was still playing.  Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 was about a month away, and I had heard from some friends that Borderlands has lots potential.  With some time left till MW2 released, I got the game and started playing.  The controls were nice and familiar for people who’ve played first person shooter games, and the button layout was pretty much the same as Call of Duty.  So it was very easy to adjust to.  

I played solo for maybe the first few missions and things were ok to me.  I later then get an invite to join a couple friends in their game, and the nice thing about Borderlands is, as long as the quest is available to you, completing it in co-op would complete it for the single player side of your game.  Great! Now I can get help with the missions, and have someone to talk to so I’m not bored.