Gearing and drop rates, AH use almost required to progress.

[Archon_Wing]

A brief oversight, but I guess I didn't realize that ilvl 61/62 items actually do drop in Hell Act 3. Then I saw a 870 dps 2 hander drop. Sure it was 61 and crap, but that was surprising. Although the rate is low, it's no longer impossible to be geared for inferno via hell drops.

Of course, if you are inferno-capable this means nothing, but it actually is pretty useful for hardcore players. With paragon and NV in mind, I actually think it's better off simply ignoring crafting period. You may want to salvage the 61s for exquisite essences and then once you enter inferno, you'll be well equipped for endgame crafting. It's actually extremely easy to get the first paragon levels when you have 5 valor stacks. From the start of Act 3 to siegebreaker on my hc wizard I've already gained half of paragon 1 without actively trying to farm exp. But of course, I'm so heavily twinked I one-shot mostly everything that's not an elite. :p The AH is fun but actually with the changes involved in 1.04, one could eschew the need for the AH until at least act 3 of inferno.

Barbs and monks are significantly harder to gear and would need help earlier, though.