Basic Math - The Failure of Diablo Melee

[Roland]

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.

If it makes you feel any better, I've been farming Act I Inferno for gold and items, and will probably have to sink at least 1 million plus before I comfortably advance into Act II. Already I'm looking at dropping over half a million on two items, one for a direct upgrade and one for an upgrade / sidegrade (I lose Vit + Armor, but gain enough Res All to come out net positive). My weapon could use improving, and if I had a spare 500k (which is about what the aforementioned items will cost me) I'd snatch that up for some more DPS. Not sure if I'll have enough time (and energy) to farm up that much cash before the auction ends, so hopefully something else will come along.

As for how people get so far... who knows? Maybe we've got it all wrong, taking our sweet time advancing through Inferno. Maybe it's easier once you get past the hump of Act I and II, where the drops are more plentiful, the cash flows more freely, and the combination allows one to craft magnificent items. That's another thing to consider - a fair portion of the items I see on the AH are the same base type as some Exalted Crafts, and it's not like you have to be in Act IV Inferno to farm materials.

I'm trying to enjoy my time in Inferno, despite being "stuck" in Act I. Buying the occasional upgrade is nice, and I'm finally starting to feel comfortable enough to maybe venture beyond into Act II. I know my DPS isn't quite where I want it to be, but high-damage bows that have sockets, large +Dex, and life steal are rare enough as it is - before adding +Vit on as a requirement. FWIW my ~627 DPS bow seems to be doing fine in Act I, and I've managed to squeak above 19k DPS with some recent acquisitions. I've kept the two sockets in my pants open, so I can either drop ~76 more Dex or Vit (or half of each) depending on whether I need the added offense, or defense.

Sorry for the "lecture." It was more generally directed, but I used your post as the springboard.

My biggest problem with using AH gear to advance in inferno is that the gear almost certain comes from one or two acts ahead. My ~650 dps blue 1-hander, for example, wouldn't drop in act I AFAICT which is kinda ridiculous. It's one thing to trade for items that you could (theoretically) find yourself given enough time, it's another to trade for stuff that's way more advanced than you "should" be getting at that point in the game.

Essentially, I'm relying on other players to push forward into the game before me just so I can make progress.

I put up on the AH a ~450 DPS 1H Witch Doctor weapon (not great stats, not terrible - forget if it had a socket or not) that I found in Act I Inferno. I've seen 500+ and 600+ DPS 2H drop there, as well. 650 DPS on a blue sounds plausible for Act I, and if not certainly Act II. I've never seen one on a Vendor, but then they're supposed to supply you with items one "tier" below yours - so if you were already sporting something better it's plausible that a Vendor could have sold that item.