Diablo 3 Beta First Impressions and a brief tirade on statistics

[lemekim]

This, in my opinion (and assuming my first impression is correct) will absolutely DESTROY the long-term replayability of D3. There won't be anyone walking about with Defiance equipped in the off-hand and a selection of skills hotkeyed to the primary hand (Vegeance, Sacrifice, etc.) to gain a massive defense boost and tackle hefty bosses with elemental immunity. There won't be any spellcasters specializing in a maxed-out lower-level spell (does anyone remember Sirian's Firebolt ONLY sorceress? Oh, wait, that's right, LoD and patch 1.07 made those characters unplayable with the addition of flat-out IMMUNE bosses. I'm still sore over this because my Level 55 Sorceress who was the first char I got to Hell difficulty was abruptly useless).

Hey, now, Loki. Grizabella (Enchantress), Maldar (Pacifist Necromancer), and Gunther (Barbarian Mage) did just fine after the patch in hell difficulty.

Hi, everybody!

Um. Hi!

I don't really have much to add. I think everyone covered most of the points nicely. I am apprehensive about the new skill system, but after all, Diablo 2 completely redid Diablo 1 system, and I am willing to give Blizzard some benefit of the doubt. I think that the system will not be as cookie-cutter filled as some might imagine. For one, while it might be easy to change skills, it will not be easy to change gear. If I got all the best items to transform my Wizard into a fire incarnate, I probably won't be able to just switch the spells to make her/him into an awesome ice wizard - more like an ice maker. Which does sort of boil down to the items being the driving force here, but I am willing to try it out.