Tristram Live

Beating Normal Mode: The Basics of Stats

2012-06-20T14:45:00.000-04:00

Did you just pick up your copy of Diablo 3 and start your first game? Normal difficulty is the first step on your way to leveling a character to level 60, and in general it’s not too difficult. However, at certain points in the game, Normal difficulty might cause you a little pause. Here are our basic tips to help any class through Diablo’s introductory difficulty.

Acts 1 and 2

Acts 1 and 2 are extremely straightforward. On Normal difficulty, your build doesn’t matter all that much, and when you get hit by enemies they don’t do that much damage. This changes a little in Act 3, but in Acts 1 and 2 you can concentrate solely on your primary statistic.

Your primary attribute depends on your class: Strength for Barbarians, Dexterity for Monks and Demon Hunters, and Intelligence for Wizards and Witch Doctors. As you're leveling up through the first two acts, items with more of your main statistic should be prioritized over anything else. This gear will improve your damage, which is really all you need to get to Act 3.

Secondarily, when I’m leveling, I look for gear with improved experience from monsters. Magic and gold find are mostly useless statistics since you’re getting less than 50 gold per creature at this level. So look for extra monster experience and other secondary damage stats, such as critical strike chance or attack speed, to round out your Act 1-2 equipment.

Acts 3 and 4

At the beginning of Act 3, you might notice that the monsters hit considerably harder and may cause you to die for the first time in Normal mode. This is to be expected, since the approach mentioned earlier in the article needs to be altered slightly in order to take on the last two acts of Normal.

For the first time since starting your character, you’re going to need to consider the amount of health you have. As a ranged character you can operate with less, but for my Barbarian, things didn’t go smoothly until I hit 3000 health. There’s no need to equip a shield (if you don’t want to), the extra health is more than enough to help finish off the last two acts.

As for damage, just keep looking for weapon upgrades. Weapon damage increases your character’s damage more than any other statistic, so in general, just keep looking for items with higher damage per second (dps). If you’re looking for a specific number, I felt really good when I reached between 250 and 300 damage on my Monk's character sheet.

On to Nightmare!

Paying attention to these few things and practicing them will make your Normal mode experience much smoother, regardless of what class you’re playing. Normal mode really isn’t all too difficult, and allows the players to experience the story without a headache.

Nightmare mode, on the other hand, will require slightly more attention to detail and actually requires you to put some strategic thought into your character’s build. Check back next week for a similar article to help you get through Nightmare.

Tristram Live Diablo 3 Podcast Episode 3 is Live!

2012-06-03T19:06:00.000-04:00

In this episode of the Tristram Live Diablo 3 Podcast, Zulu and Mcgabe discuss launch day, error 37, the auction house's troubles, and their first impressions of Diablo 3's four difficulty levels (Normal, Nightmare, Hell, Inferno).

Toward the end of the podcast, we also provide tips on how to get started in each of the four difficulty levels. Next week, we're going to be talking about the developer update in quite a bit of detail, so be sure to check back!

An Introduction: Diablo 3 Tips for Beginners

2012-05-24T17:30:00.000-04:00

Are you, like many people, new to the Diablo franchise? Or are you coming into the game and are utterly confused by how Diablo 3 differs from its predecessors? Either way, I’ve come across a lot of people who don’t understand a few things about how basics of the game work, and others that are unaware of key features that impact how you play the game. Here are the four things I think it would help every beginner to know.

Statistics

Diablo is all about gear, and all this gear has stats on it. What stats are good for whom? The first thing you want to figure out is your primary stat, which is Strength for Barbarians, Dexterity for Monks and Demon Hunters, and Intelligence for Witch Doctors and Wizards. When you’re first starting out and wondering what to put on, typically you want to seek out gear with your primary stat on it, since it will almost always be better for you. These stats also impact more complicated statistics, but these won’t be important to your Normal Difficulty playthrough.

Vitality is also important, but not seriously so until Acts 3 and 4 of Normal. Partway through Act 3, you may notice yourself dying easily to certain magical attacks, such as the green pools spawned by Heralds of Pestilence. Having 3000 or 4000 health should be more than enough, and I’ve seen certain classes beat Normal Difficulty Diablo with 2500 health or so. If you notice yourself dying, pick some up. Otherwise, Vitality isn’t too big of a concern until the beginning of Nightmare.

Elective Mode

Elective Mode allows players to have more than one ability from a spell category on their bar, if they wish. It also allows players to move their buttons around. For example, if you wanted to run both Magic Missile and Electrocute as a Wizard, you could. You could also put either spell on any button you had available, not just left or right click.

Advanced Tooltips

Advanced tooltips are enabled by checking the corresponding box in the Interface section of your Gameplay Options. When checked, all of your spells will show more detailed descriptions, allowing you to see how much damage the spell deals, heals, or buffs you instead of the more flowery but nonspecific descriptions you start out with.

Monster and Player Health Bar Numbers

If you want to see exactly how much health you and your enemies have, as well as text displaying damage and healing numbers, you can enable these in the HUD section of your Gameplay Options. I usually leave all of these options checked, since I like seeing as much information as possible.

Go Out and Kill Stuff

With these few things in mind, your first foray through Normal Difficulty of Diablo 3 should be much easier. On top of that, these are things you’ll definitely want to keep in mind for Nightmare and above. Normal allows you to mostly coast through the game, but in Nightmare, you’re going to need all the help you can get, at first.

Look for more information on transitioning to Nightmare Difficulty next week!

Monk Impressions: Mcgabe

2012-05-15T03:08:00.001-04:00

“The tales of Ivgorod’s monks are steeped in mystery and legend. It is said that these reclusive holy warriors endure grueling training for years on end at the wonderous floating Sky Monastery, forging their bodies and minds into weapons of righteousness. For the monks, there is no greater honor than to follow the will of their 1001 gods, even if it means death.”

Diablo 3’s Monk takes the usual “holy warrior” or “paladin” RPG archetype, chews it up, spits it out, stands it on its head, and turns it inside out. And those are all very, very good things.

The fresh take on the “holy warrior” is but one of the many draw-ins of the class. I’m sure many, like myself, are huge oriental martial arts fans; well, the Monk has an entire roster of flashy, jumpkick-y attacks to choose from. From Deadly Reach (my absolute favorite) to Fists of Thunder to Cyclone Strike, the Monk’s every swing feels like a nuclear explosion, and each skill is just as destructive as its name implies.

The Monk’s resource system, Spirit, is very straightforward: you use a handful of primary generator skills to build it up, and then unload it with spenders. As a rule of thumb, Spirit spenders are generally stronger damage-wise, and most have some added utility. Seven-sided Strike for example, the skill I’m most looking forward to unlocking for the class, is a spender that does a LOT of damage to several targets as the Monk teleports rapidly between them. Personally, I feel that this skill represents the quintessence of the Monk: calm, centered and always in control, but fast and devastating when such traits are called for.

Another important aspect of the class is Mantras. These are essentially aura-type spells, providing certain buffs like +dodge or thorns (damage reflection), but with a twist: they’re stronger a few moments immediately after being cast. This design choice lends the spell an added layer of complexity, while still maintaining its core functionality, which is that of an aura. I’m not too keen on Mantras, having played with them for a very brief period in the beta, but I’m sure they’ll grow on me as they become very valuable assets in the later difficulties.

So, we’ve established that the Monk’s damage-dealing potential is nothing to scoff at. Okay. You thought THAT was the best part of the class!? HA! Not even close. The real meat of the Monk comes from the huge array of delicious support spells at his fingertips. Ranging from the Mantras we talked about above, to Inner Sanctuary, to Serenity, to Breath of Heaven, to Lethal Decoy…*gasps for air*…, the Monk can protect himself and his allies in xⁿ (yes, I used metaphorical exponentials…really, it’s THAT many) different ways. Sure, you could make an absolutely offensive Monk, that will work in Diablo 3’s game design. However, I feel that abdicating the use of such powerful support spells just distances the class from the “holy warrior” we all love and long for.

As usual, I’ll wrap this post up with the call to arms from the Darkness Falls, Heroes Rise spotlight video…

“If you have the courage to brave intense close-range combat and the discipline to seek perfection in all things, then perhaps your destiny is to walk the righteous path of the Monk”

…to which I must say:

After my Wizard, most definitely.

24 Hour Live Stream Details

2012-05-14T18:11:00.000-04:00

So May 15th is finally upon us and we're ready to bite the bullet. Starting tomorrow at 3:00 AM Eastern Time, we will be broadcasting live on Twitch TV for 24 hours straight! We'll be racing to Nightmare and Hell modes as fast as we can, and who knows, maybe we'll even get a U.S. first or two.

We'll be monitoring chat, taking questions, and interacting with the community in general throughout the day. If you're one of the few unlucky enough to be at work, or you're just interested in watching some moderately funny people go balls to the wall at Diablo 3, come check us out before 3 AM on Wednesday morning. You'll be able to watch either in the Stream section of our site or over on Twitch.

See you in Hell.

Demon Hunter Impressions: Zulu

2012-05-14T15:05:00.001-04:00

“The demon hunters. Vengeful harbingers of righteous doom who bring swift judgment and death to the hellish creatures daring enough to trespass on the mortal lands of Sanctuary. Skilled archers, assassins, and trackers, demon hunters are perfectly honed instruments set to scour demons from the world. The fact that every last one of them has a deep and personal motivation to do so only sharpens their deadly purpose.”

Diablo 3’s Demon Hunter is the spiritual offspring of Diablo 2’s Assassin and Amazon classes. Combining the ranged, weapon-based attacks of the Amazon with the Assassin’s traps and acrobatics, the Demon Hunter specializes in tactical ranged combat. In addition to spells like Spike Trap and Rapid Fire, the Demon Hunter employs shadow magic, giving the Demon Hunter a certain level of badassery archer-type classes often lack.

The showcase video on Blizzard’s Darkness Falls, Heroes Rise website spent much more time showing offensive abilities than defensive ones and therefore didn’t convey the degree to which the class’ defensive abilities are used. During my experience in the beta, defensive Discipline-using spells were used basically every time I was in combat, and without them I quickly found myself in melee. That being said, the Demon Hunter’s offensive and defensive spells created possibilities for strategic play that I thoroughly enjoyed.

As far as the Demon Hunter’s primary skills go, I spent most of the beta using either Hungering Arrow or Entangling Shot. Hungering Arrow’s proc effect made it particularly cool, since the arrow would jump to other targets, essentially creating a chain lightning effect with arrows. While Hungering Arrow’s primary purpose was to do damage without utility, Entangling Shot was at the other end of the spectrum.

It did rather poor damage, but placed a slow on the primary target and the one closest to it. The rune effect made it even more powerful, causing 4 targets to be slowed. Both spells fulfilled their purpose perfectly, but I found myself using Hungering Arrow in conjunction with Caltrops, since the slow effects from Entangling Shot and Caltrops didn’t stack.

For secondary offensive spells, the Demon Hunter had access to Impale and Rapid Fire. Impale did significant damage, and when runed added a 65% chance to stun the target hit by the spell. This made Impale extremely potent, especially since the rune didn’t sacrifice any damage for the effect. Rapid Fire was a bit more fun to use, since it’s essentially a minigun of arrows. The spell is channeled, though, meaning I spent a lot of time standing still, whereas Impale’s instant cast made it much easier for me to stay on the move.

For defensive spells, I spent most of my time using Caltrops (slow trap) and Vault, which let me jump a pretty great distance. The two spells worked well together, since Caltrops and Vault both have a pretty low Discipline cost. I would lay Caltrops, and when enemies got too close I would jump away and lay another, basically ensuring enemies never caught up to me. I wasn’t particularly excited by Smoke Screen, since when playing solo on Normal difficulty I never needed the invisibility to escape from anything.

My experience with the Demon Hunter definitely exposed me to the synergy between her abilities. The fact that three Caltrops can be placed at once is an example of the tactical choices available to the class, and the Demon Hunter’s damage output was among the highest that I experienced.

I’m not usually interested in ranged classes, but I spent more time playing the Demon Hunter than any other class in the beta. The class seems particularly well suited for people who want to play alone, since her utility allows the Demon Hunter to control more of the battlefield than the other classes, with the exception of certain Witch Doctor abilities. However, the Demon Hunter has slow and control worked into many more of her abilities than the Witch Doctor, giving her many more options in multiple builds. When all my friends are offline, I’ll most likely be playing the Demon Hunter, and who knows if the strategic nature of the class will rope me in more than I expect.

Barbarian Impressions: Zulu

2012-05-12T16:21:00.002-04:00

“The barbarians. Mighty warriors whose strength and ferocity are a match for any foe, whether slavering beast or foul demon. Tall, broad, and rippling with muscle, the barbarian can bear a heavy weapon too large for a commoner to lift, or wield two full-sized armaments—one in each hand—with wickedly lethal purpose. In the wild and monstrous lands of Sanctuary, there is nothing more frightening than a barbarian with a dry blade.”

Diablo 3’s Barbarian fulfills the archetype well. Completely at home in the center of combat, the Barbarian forgoes finesse in favor of sheer brute force. While the idea of the Barbarian is straightforward, the class is anything but bland. Spells like Cleave and Whirlwind fulfill the status quo, while others like Seismic Slam and Earthquake take the Barbarian’s staggering displays of power to the next level.

The Barbarian video released a few weeks back on the Darkness Falls, Heroes Rise site shows off most of these spells with some of their fancier rune variants, such as the Giant’s Stride Earthquake rune that spews magma beneath your feet. Earthquake, Whirlwind and Seismic Slam appear throughout the video, mostly because these are the most visually impressive abilities the Barbarian has, but also because they display what the Barbarian does so well: make your jaw drop.

From the moment you log into your newly created Barbarian, you can feel the power behind the Barbarian’s attacks. The very first spell you get, Bash, causes the screen to shake every time it’s used, and enemies killed by the ability go flying for fifty feet or more. This holds true for most strike-based abilities in the Barbarian’s arsenal. The animations themselves are pretty, but the animations are backed up by an undeniable sense of firepower, which is a feeling that I didn’t get from any other class in the beta.

Once you get Cleave and Frenzy, Bash gets overshadowed. Bash is a slow, hard-hitting attack that exists mainly for its knockback or stun chance when runed. During my time in the beta, Bash’s secondary effect was totally unnecessary, but given the fact that the beta was so easy that all you needed is damage output, it’s not that surprising. Where Cleave and Frenzy outperfom it in damage, Bash makes up for in utility. I can definitely see it being used a lot in PvP and knockback/control builds.

All of the Barbarian’s secondary abilities were awe-inspiring, with the exception of Rend. Rend is an area-of-effect bleed that does considerable damage, but isn’t so rewarding in the visual department and therefore less appealing. That being said, I used the ability heavily on the Skeleton King, since its damage over time synergized well with the Cleave rune that causes enemies to explode when killed with it. Together, Cleave and Rend make a powerful AoE damage combination, if you’re willing to forgo flair and utility for damage.

The Barbarian’s defensive spells in the beta, Ground Stomp and Leap, were both very useful. Ground Stomp was great for briefly reducing damage taken and keeping enemies standing still for AoE, but when surrounded, it doesn’t offer any respite past its duration. As a result, I heavily used Leap. Without Leap, the Barbarian felt prone to getting stuck in large groups, which will undoubtedly be a problem in higher difficulty modes.

In general, the Barbarian plays the same at early levels as it does at later levels, which says a lot about how hard Blizzard worked to create a feeling for the class. The first impression you get from the Barbarian is the right one, and I have to say the Incredible Hulk-style gameplay drew me in much more than I expected. Prior to my beta experience, I was dead-set on Monk. But since smashing things is so satisfying, I have to say the Barbarian is edging its way toward number one.

Wizard Impressions: Zulu

2012-05-09T08:30:00.000-04:00

“The wizards. Brilliant practitioners of the arcane arts who deftly wield the energies of fire, ice, lightning, and even time itself in the pursuit of their enigmatic goals. Bedecked in archaic charms, clad in runes, and wrapped in free-flowing robes to allow for the somatic components of their spells, wizards are a veritable thunderstorm of lethal powers who can strike from close or long range. There is no safe way to approach an angry wizard.”

Diablo 3’s Wizard is a much more traditional version of the caster class than the Witch Doctor. Employing well-known spells like Magic Missile, Blizzard and Frost Nova, the Wizard offers caster-minded players an experience they’ve come to expect, but with much more ferocity than they’re used to.

The Wizard video released on Blizzard’s Darkness Falls, Heroes Rise website displays the class’ uncanny firepower. At one point in the video, the Wizard casts Frost Nova, freezing all the enemies around her, and then subsequently casts what looks like Wave of Force, shattering every enemy affected by Frost Nova. The video highlights the Wizard’s ability to do large amounts of damage in an area via spells like Blizzard and Meteor. My beta experience with the Wizard's secondary spells accurately reflected this, but the primary skills weren’t overly exciting.

Prior to level 10 or so, the Wizard has access to Magic Missile and Shock Pulse as primary spells. Primary spells don’t cost Arcane Power and are used mainly to fill in between secondary spells. Since Arcane Power recharges so quickly, these spells actually aren’t used that often. I didn’t care for Shock Pulse, due to its randomness often causing it to miss enemies standing directly in front of me. Magic Missile worked just fine, but it was just as bland as the Witch Doctor’s Poison Dart. The first rune only increased the damage, while Shock Pulse’s rune caused explosions! The explosions were awesome, but the spell’s randomness still caused it to miss targets in melee range.

The secondary spells in the beta were more hit or miss. Ray of Frost required you to be standing still, and the slow lasted 1 second. Therefore, it was difficult to effectively kite, since as soon as you stopped casting, creatures ran at normal speed. Beyond Ray of Frost, the Wizard’s secondary spells left me thoroughly impressed. Arcane Orb felt AWESOME, especially with the rune that increased the damage. If aimed properly, the explosion it caused made quick work of large groups of enemies. Its slow travel time made it rather ineffective against moving targets, but Frost Nova allowed me to freeze enemies in clumps and then destroy them with Arcane Orb before they came unfrozen.

The synergy between these two spells gave me a small taste of how the Wizard will play at higher levels. Her lack of toughness in melee necessitates quick movement and use of support spells so that she can rain death upon her enemies. And let me say, raining death never felt so good. Arcane Orb was more than satisfying, and I can only imagine the nerd happiness that the much flashier Blizzard and Meteor spells will cause for Wizard players.

My experience with the Wizard was an enjoyable one, but I still wasn’t overly fond of the gameplay due to my lack of affinity for casters. Unlike my feelings for the Witch Doctor, though, my thoughts on the Wizard are genuinely positive. The explosive damage output and flashy visuals of the Wizard are sure to draw in many players, and I can definitely see myself playing one when I’m feeling the need for some fireworks.

Wizard Impressions: Mcgabe

2012-05-03T21:10:00.001-04:00

“The Wizard is fiercely talented in various forms of magic. Her broad expertise allows her to manipulate the very fabric of reality, and bend time, space, and arcane energies to her will.”

Ah, the Wizard: already my favorite Diablo 3 class before the spotlight video was released; my ABSOLUTE favorite post-spotlight. Everything that was showcased just sealed the deal for me. Wizard will be my starting class.

Keeping this article objective, concise and informative was definitely a difficult task. Even now, I’m struggling to not begin rambling indefinitely about how amazing Arcane Torrent is, or how my absolute favorite thing to do (ever) will be reflecting enemy projectiles with Wave of Force. But I digress.

OBJECTIVE IMPRESSIONS

The Wizard definitely feels powerful. All his spells have a great deal of impact built into them and are as destructive as they look, and boy do they look stunning. Just thinking about the fact that each spell has five variant visual effects via skill runes gets me excited about using them as I level up. Even spells like Blizzard and Meteor, which have been singled out by the community for having less-than-impressive graphics, will still have that “BOOM factor” in-game. Once we have access to these spells’ runes, we’ll forget about ever complaining that they looked bland.

Arcane Power (the Wizard’s resource system) fits extremely well because having a rapidly-replenishing resource pool makes sense in the context of the class. I mean, lets face it: you’re this super-powerful badass prodigy who is adept at all forms of magic. It only makes sense that your resource pool would be near infinite when used correctly. However, the fact that you can choose to go all out and run yourself dry in a matter of seconds, dealing major amounts of damage as a result, consolidates that extra layer of complexity in the class and provides you with exceptional control over your playstyle.

As far as spell mechanics go, the class is very straightforward. It feels a lot like the Sorceress from Diablo II (which was my first hero, who knew!), and therefore is akin to your run-of-the-mill mage archetype. Spells range from ground-targeted area effects (Blizzard, Meteor, Arcane Torrent) to channeled beams (Disintegrate and Ray of Frost) to a bevy of projectiles, both slow and swift (Arcane Orb, Magic Missile). And then, we have support skills such as Slow Time, Familiar, Diamond Skin, magic armors, etc. Oh, and don’t forget niche spells like Magic Weapon and Spectral Blade (hello melee Wizard!). I’m going to have a hard time limiting myself to six skills, needless to say.

LESS-OBJECTIVE IMPRESSIONS

Alright, all that objective stuff is out of the way. Here’s the part where we can either rejoice or cringe in response to more specific aspects of the Wizard:

Spectral Blade is just about the coolest thing ever. My favorite signature spell.
Ray of Frost feels a bit weird. The fact that it’s a beam, but gets obstructed by the first target in its path (i.e., doesn’t pierce like Disintegrate), kind of makes the targeting a bit wonky. I’m not a fan, at least not before rune effects.
Wave of Force can deflect/reflect projectiles. You read that right: DEFLECT/REFLECT PROJECTILES. Need I sing its praises any further? No? Good, didn’t think so.
Speaking of projectiles, Slow Time can slow them down by 90%. I think it’s safe to say that, as a Wizard, the least of your worries are projectiles.
Destroying environmental clutter with Arcane Orb is just about the most satisfying thing ever. Just the way tables splinter and scatter makes me smile.

Going beyond spells, you may be surprised that there’s something else I didn’t like about the Wizard. I’m not a huge fan of the female Wizard’s voice acting. Grey DeLisle is an amazing voice actress, don’t get me wrong, but the character just sounds a bit too high-pitched and schoolgirl-y for my personal taste. That being said, the male Wizard (voiced by the equally talented Crispin Freeman) sounds just right – very full of himself, but still somewhat calm and collected. That’s just my kind of personality.

The spotlight video, as usual, finishes with a distinct call-to-arms. So what’s more appropriate than wrapping up the post with it?

“If you have the skill and brilliant intellect to harness these unstable magics and turn them against your enemy, then it might be your fate to follow the path of the Wizard.”

…to which I personally reply:

Where do I sign?

Tristram Live Diablo 3 Podcast Episode 2 - The Evolution of Diablo

2012-04-29T23:19:00.003-04:00

Tristram Live Diablo 3 Podcast Episode 2 - The Evolution of Diablo

In this episode of the Tristram Live Diablo 3 Podcast, we talk about the evolution of the game, including topics like Diablo 1's skill books, Diablo 3's Nephalem Valor system, and chain-chugging potions in Diablo 2 boss fights.

Friendly to the veteran and newcomer alike, this episode is a great chance for people who didn't play the Diablo 3 beta to get a better idea of how the game differs from Diablo 2.

We went to great pains to improve the sound quality for this podcast and we think it came out much better than last week!

What do you think about the differences between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3? Are you a fan? Sound off in the comments.

Witch Doctor Impressions: Zulu

2012-04-25T15:17:00.000-04:00

Witch Doctor Impressions:Zulu

“They command ancient magics rooted in the primal powers of life and death, and are adept at summoning fearsome, shadowy creatures. A witch doctor is armed with simple talismans, fetishes, rough carvings… and endless ravening throngs of vengeful spirits set to bring destruction at their master’s command.”

Diablo 3's Witch Doctor class is one of the more novel classes ever made in video games, fulfilling a necromancer-like role without the normal clichés. With spells like Plague of Toads, Firebats and Wall of Zombies, the Witch Doctor’s spells range from eccentric to the ridiculously powerful.

The Witch Doctor video released this week does a great job of showcasing several Witch Doctor spells and their different rune options. For example, the video shows both the Rain of Toads and Toad of Hugeness variants of the Plague of Toads spell. The video also puts a spotlight on the Gargantuan, a massive zombie that the Witch Doctor can call to his side to wreak havoc on large groups of enemies. However, I felt the beta didn’t give me a chance to experience the apparent potential of the class depicted in the video.

The two primary spells the player uses for the majority of the beta (levels 1-11) are Poison Dart and Corpse Spiders. Neither spell made me feel excited in any way. Poison Dart was rather underwhelming and Corpse Spiders failed to feel effective due to its massive ramp-up time prior to the spell doing noticeable damage.

That being said, I think other spells in the beta, particularly Zombie Dogs and Firebats, give the player a better impression of the Witch Doctor than the other two. Firebats was the only Witch Doctor spell in the beta arsenal that made me feel like a badass. There aren’t too many spells in the game that feel as awesome as a continuous bat flamethrower.

Thinking beyond the beta, the class has amazing possibilities, with spells like Spirit Walk, Horrify and Mass Confusion adding massive utility and crowd control. Even Grasp of the Dead, the second spell you ever get as a Witch Doctor, feels ridiculously powerful with its 80% slow rune, and the 20% weapon damage per second it deals isn’t to scoff at, either.

I wasn’t interested in playing the Witch Doctor to begin with, and my experience in the beta further solidified that lack of interest. The spells felt tedious and failed to make me feel powerful, with the exception of Grasp of the Dead and Firebats. Even then, when your most gratifying spell is an area-of-effect slow, I think that says something.

Based on my experience, the Witch Doctor is still firmly at the bottom of my class to-do list, and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one. Aside from the players who are interested in commanding an army of dead things and shooting animals across the screen, I don’t think the Witch Doctor is going to be even a second choice for many players.

Welcome! Tristram Live Diablo 3 Podcast Episode 1 is Up

2012-04-22T02:40:00.001-04:00

Tristram Live Diablo 3 Podcast Episode 2 - The Evolution of Diablo

Hello everyone and welcome to Tristram Live!

We've been slaving over getting the site set up for the past few weeks and we're finally ready for people to check it out. We've got tabs set up at the top so you can navigate to each of the different platforms that we produce content for, as well as an about page that also has our contact/social media information and some details about the site's contributors, Zulu and Mcgabe.

As for content, we are planning to bring you frequent posts addressing key happenings in the Diablo 3 community, including blue posts, patch notes and everything in between. However, we're not aiming to be a news source. All of our posts are going to be responses to news or discussions going on in the community, based on our own opinions and analysis.

Streaming is also going to be a big component of the site. We're already planning an all-day streaming event May 15, where we invite you to come watch and talk to us about Blizzard's latest action-RPG. Details on which nights we will regularly stream will be released later.

Last but not least, we have the podcast. The podcast is going to feature strategy discussion, including skills, spell sets, rune selection and everything else. If there's time between all the nerd rambling, we'll try to cover any big ideas people are talking about on the forums.

That being said, we've got to start somewhere, so in this episode we'll be talking about our pre-launch opinions of the game and impressions from the beta. We've included details about the streaming event on May 15 in addition to some great discussion, so we hope you'll stay a while...and listen.