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[Briggsy16]

Surely if they completely upended them there would just be a case to make it it's own skill?
Clearly the tune has to make it still act like the same skill otherwise there'd be no point to it.. For instance my stomp on my barb pulls all mobs into me so I can ape them down. I could choose to use one of the others but I don't because it suits my play style. That is a choice I have made..

[nenjin]

To me it's not the same thing as saying "yes, I want to specialize in this ability above all others" or "I want to do something novel and unorthodox." The only novel or unorthodox thing you can really pull with the whole class/skill system is, like, relying on your default melee attack. Which isn't viable because the whole system is geared toward spamming special attacks. To me, D3 is less D2 and more Street Fighter. Two guys playing Dhalsim are exactly the same in Street Fighter, distinguished only by their skill and which attacks they use at given moment. When PvP rolls out, that will matter. Right now, in the context of a SP/CO-OP game, it carries almost no weight to me.

[Andir]

Runes change how abilities work, but they don't totally upend them. For the monk, there are literally abilities that say something to the effect of "this attack now does 220% damage instead of 180%." The Trident Rune didn't change how I used that punch at all, it just made that punch hit stuff on my flanks. Is that cool? Sure. Does it feel like I made a real choice? No, it honestly doesn't.

Another example, the first rune for the Wizard Magic Missile is 33% (110% base -> 143%) more damage... it doesn't add missiles, it doesn't make the missiles explode... just more damage. Then a few levels later you get 3 missiles, that do 50% damage so you may as well calculate that as 165% damage (110 * .50 * 3), or...  a whopping 22% more damage!  Oh... but at that same level you can pick Glass Cannon passive skill that adds 15% damage (for -10% armor/resist) to complete the leveling damage curve and add those missing points.  (hmm... Were they really missing?)

So there we have two runes (and a passive skill) pretty much dedicated to... making more damage instead of making the skill more unique.  It's not until mid 20s that you start getting some additional bonuses via runes.

(I'd prefer if the skills scaled with your level and runes actually did something.)

[forsaken1111]

Another example, the first rune for the Wizard Magic Missile is 33% (110% base -> 143%) more damage... it doesn't add missiles, it doesn't make the missiles explode... just more damage. Then a few levels later you get 3 missiles, that do 50% damage so you may as well calculate that as 165% damage (110 * .50 * 3), or...  a whopping 22% more damage!

The multiple-missile rune is only 22% more damage if all three hit the same target. They have a small cone of accuracy and its not easy to get all three to hit a single target every time unless the target is large. That rune is better for small groups.

Although I dunno why you'd even use it, electrocute is the best thing ever.

[Andir]

Another example, the first rune for the Wizard Magic Missile is 33% (110% base -> 143%) more damage... it doesn't add missiles, it doesn't make the missiles explode... just more damage. Then a few levels later you get 3 missiles, that do 50% damage so you may as well calculate that as 165% damage (110 * .50 * 3), or...  a whopping 22% more damage!

The multiple-missile rune is only 22% more damage if all three hit the same target. They have a small cone of accuracy and its not easy to get all three to hit a single target every time unless the target is large. That rune is better for small groups.

That really only matters if the mobs are low enough level to kill them with the initial output of damage.  You're going to have to cast the spell multiple times and it should average out total damage to be 22% extra.  In reality, you'll get less with missing missiles, etc.  I was being generous with 22%.

But yes, there's no purpose using that skill after electrocute, so it's a throwaway skill that doesn't scale well.

[Patchouli]

I'm having a blast playing with my friends. I don't really know what I'm doing though, so I just throw spiders everywhere.

[Levi]

Is there any reason not to use the Templar follower?    They all seem to do so little damage that I can only see them useful in a support role, and that guy seems to have a lot of heal/support abilities, and has good defense.

[Briggsy16]

Is there any reason not to use the Templar follower?    They all seem to do so little damage that I can only see them useful in a support role, and that guy seems to have a lot of heal/support abilities, and has good defense.

I like using the enchantress, with a bit of decent gear her basic attack does about 10-15 damage which I think is ok.

[nenjin]

I'm not sure about followers. The Templar followed me into the SK fight, and he probably didn't go below 80% health. Meanwhile, other people have told me they've watched their companions get smeared by normal monsters. I don't know what kind of aggro system it's using, but it definitely seems focused on the player, not the companions.

[Darkmere]

Nightmare boss packs are proving... interesting. I found a group of vortex jailer unburied, so, I kept getting pulled into the group, immobilized, knocked back, and pulled into the group. Also, nightmarish horde burrowing leapers weren't fun either. I can only imagine how this is going to play out vs the swarms of things in acts 3 and 4 later on.

Runes: Some are just boosts... most of them on the WD actually change how I use the spells. one of the corpse spider runes summons a single mother spider with huge poison AoE DoT. Firebats can be a short range inferno-type spell, a single piercing projectile, a vortex of fire damage around me... I'm not sure how much more different it could be.

[nenjin]

WD's abilities really stand out to me in this regard. The monk abilities, much less so. Making your zombie dogs poisonous or fiery seems to be the gist of many other classes' runes.

[Neyvn]

Damn it, I forgot that I wasn't going to play any Online Games that would drain the remaining Internet Time we had left until it had been refillled.......

Then Diablo III came out....

[Carcanken]

So what class have you all been playing?


Ive been playing the Barbarian, but I think ill switch to the monk as it seems easier and better.

[Neonivek]

So what class have you all been playing?


Ive been playing the Barbarian, but I think ill switch to the monk as it seems easier and better.

Demon hunter and Mage

[sambojin]

I've been playing as a WD, but I'm about to move onto other classes. Maxed my level on the guest pass with WD, so all I can really do is get my crafting up.

I've actually been having quite a bit of fun just dropping whatever I miscrafted with my WD at other character's feet. I've already got a fair bit of int, so it's nice to watch a barb think you're nice just because you gave him some +str, +vit, +MF pants. What's 600 dollars between friends (or in this case, total strangers)? I've not yet had anyone bother to click on the chat box to say thanks for random craft gifting.

For some reason, it's sort of why I like D3. You drop something at the blacksmith for them after a run, you move away, they pick it up. You both knew what was going on, no one said anything. Then they log out so fast you'd think that giving them pants insulted their masculinity. I love diablo's community atmosphere.

I really don't know if I'm being sarcastic here.......