Next question.
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Fireheart
- Posts: 91
- Joined: Fri May 24, 2002 5:02 pm
Next question.
Ok. If LoD is this easy with the Druid, is it this easy with all the races? This is critically important for me getting an idea on how difficult the game needs to be made.
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FoxBat
- Arch-Angel
- Posts: 1048
- Joined: Thu May 23, 2002 10:50 pm
- Location: Pennsylvania
Re: Next question.
LoD isn't any more difficult than D2 really, for any class. I find it slightly easier, this with a Barbarian who supposedly got nerfed the most in LoD, and that's without any twink gear, heck I beat hell/hell with an knight's ancient axe...
The main thing you are noticing in normal is the henchmen, but in hell diff henchmen tend to die quickly without some uber-gear. What tends to be more a problem later on is that act 5 is just rediculously easy, all the monsters in it are slow and brain-dead. Aside from a well-decked-out werewolf, the druid doesen't really have it any easier than the other classes though.
If you don't have the time to play each class through hell, fire up jamella's, assign yourself an appropriate number of skills and stats, give yourself a few elites with moderate stats, and play around with it. This kind of balancing isn't quite as good as intimate knowledge in a build, but usually you don't have time for that sort of thing, and it's better than shooting in the dark.
Another idea is to try and read some of the strategy forum archives, guides, or rants on sites like the Amazon Basin and the Lurkerlounge. You can go all the way back to 1.07, as character balance hasn't changed too much since then. Barbs have fallen from their top status in 1.06, and sorcs have shot to the top with their really high damage that over-compensates for the skill timers. Bowazons are nearly as overpowered as they always were. Necros aren't necessarily good damage dealers but they are still very hard to kill. The assassin is probably the one class that has the least abuse (mind blast is the one exception, and tiger strike + dragon tail is borderline.), so you might want to play that to get a feel for the "lower end" of character balance.
The main thing you are noticing in normal is the henchmen, but in hell diff henchmen tend to die quickly without some uber-gear. What tends to be more a problem later on is that act 5 is just rediculously easy, all the monsters in it are slow and brain-dead. Aside from a well-decked-out werewolf, the druid doesen't really have it any easier than the other classes though.
If you don't have the time to play each class through hell, fire up jamella's, assign yourself an appropriate number of skills and stats, give yourself a few elites with moderate stats, and play around with it. This kind of balancing isn't quite as good as intimate knowledge in a build, but usually you don't have time for that sort of thing, and it's better than shooting in the dark.
Another idea is to try and read some of the strategy forum archives, guides, or rants on sites like the Amazon Basin and the Lurkerlounge. You can go all the way back to 1.07, as character balance hasn't changed too much since then. Barbs have fallen from their top status in 1.06, and sorcs have shot to the top with their really high damage that over-compensates for the skill timers. Bowazons are nearly as overpowered as they always were. Necros aren't necessarily good damage dealers but they are still very hard to kill. The assassin is probably the one class that has the least abuse (mind blast is the one exception, and tiger strike + dragon tail is borderline.), so you might want to play that to get a feel for the "lower end" of character balance.
Last edited by FoxBat on Sun May 11, 2003 1:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Fireheart
- Posts: 91
- Joined: Fri May 24, 2002 5:02 pm
Re: Next question.
Ahhh, the Lurker Lounge. That place brings back memories. Some of them are even good. 
I don't use Jamella's for fine-tuning character balance. It can't simulate drop rates, which is usually critical for character balance (we tweak(ed) drop rates quite a bit and build entirely new TC systems).
Its useful for lots of stuff, but not for the kind of fine-tuning of characters I'm looking for. Also, from what I'm seeing, uber-henchman gear shoudln't be a problem....
I don't use Jamella's for fine-tuning character balance. It can't simulate drop rates, which is usually critical for character balance (we tweak(ed) drop rates quite a bit and build entirely new TC systems).
Its useful for lots of stuff, but not for the kind of fine-tuning of characters I'm looking for. Also, from what I'm seeing, uber-henchman gear shoudln't be a problem....