Basic Math - The Failure of Diablo Melee

[Archon_Wing]

I finally broke down when I got to act 2 inferno and bought a 700 dps/dex/vit sword for my monk for 90k. I just can't see how one can get through without spending a ton on the auction house. But the same applies to my friends in other classes.

90k is "a ton"? I can make almost double that in an hour on a good run, not counting whatever I make in sales off the AH (which is virtually nothing, but occasionally I can get another 10 - 25k). I agree, you will need to spend a significant amount of gold in order to advance. Or, as has been stated, farm repeatedly until luck favors you. Or a combination - farm for gold and items, sell the stuff you don't need on the AH, and eventually take all that "free" money and sink it into items you do need off the AH.

While farming for gold I've found 2 very nice upgrades for my character - one a socketed ring with 1% higher IAS and +75 Vit, and a Perfect Square Emerald actually makes it boost my damage (and dodge, however slightly). The other are a nice set of gloves with over 100 Dex, some Vit, and most importantly +Res all. I lose my 14% IAS on my old gloves, but gain life and damage reduction, and with the above ring + Emerald I actually came out ahead in DPS anyway. It IS possible to find good items farming Act I Inferno - it just takes a long time. Of course, you could always take all those crappy items you find and melt them down (vendor the sub-59 ilvl ones for gold), then use the crafting materials to craft something potentially better. It's a gamble, yes, but from what Chesspiece is saying the stats on the top-level crafts seem to be weighted toward Inferno difficulty. So, even if you don't get something that's usable by you, you should be able to sell it on the AH, and turn enough of a profit to be able to buy something useful.

I truly don't understand the abhorrence of the AH. This isn't D2 people. The game was designed around this very concept. It's an integral part of the game. Is it the only way to acquire gear? Absolutely not. It certainly can be the most efficient way, however. Does it make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? No, you don't get that big rush of hitting the jackpot like you do when finding or crafting a good item. So what? Diablo and Diablo II both had plenty of crap items (especially once LoD came out). People spent loads of time farming for gold to gamble, and doing Mephisto and Pindle runs for gear. It's no different here, only here you can do other things in order to acquire solid gear: you can craft it with all the gold and materials you collect along the way, and you can buy it off the AH - a secure way of trading with other players, virtually hassle free, with no risk of scams or dupes or anything else that plagued D2. If people want to stick to the old ways of playing "pure," or Live-off-the-Land style that's their prerogative. Just don't expect the game to be bent around you.

If "great" items dropped any more frequently the economy would implode in a short period of time. As it is 90% of the gear out there (save for ones with specific affixes, i.e. top-end gear needed to advance through Inferno) is "junk" anyway that can be acquired for a song - if it wasn't vendored or salvaged. It's not like gold is that hard to acquire, either. An hour or two a day could easily net you 200k, plus materials to craft with if you're already in Inferno. You're odds of crafting gear that you need are almost guaranteed to be better, simply because you get to choose the base item and number of mods on it (2-3 if it's Magical, 4-6 if it's Rare).

Well... umm good for you then! Thanks for the lecture, but my curiosity was more towards how we got people into inferno farming all these items in the first place.

I know the AH is a part of the game; I've made quite a few posts detailing on why it's a good thing. Except the ton isn't just 90k because it's not going to allow me to advance past act 2. This 90k is just a stopgap weapon that lets me deal with act 1 inferno adequately so I can go farm my valor stacks or whatever. I will most likely have to spend a lot more per slot to do it. I was just not finding any good deals, and wanted to wait some more, but whatever.