08-21-2012, 06:45 AM
(08-21-2012, 03:38 AM)FoxBat Wrote:(08-20-2012, 11:48 PM)Athenau Wrote: Newcomers aren't playing inferno so does inflation really hurt them?
Not if they're new to inferno, that's more what I meant. The biggest issue with inferno IMO is people giving up fast when they hit an act difficulty wall.
It's hard to say how things will pan out with the adjustments to item affixes in the upcoming patch, but at the moment my biggest concern is the complete necessity surrounding the Crit stats and progression in Inferno.
"Normal" players moving through Inferno and building what reasonably seems like a good gear set can get about 22k damage from a decent weapon/offhand and a strong amount of your primary damage stat. If you add in ~25% crit you can boost that up to about 35-40k damage. Throw in 300-400% crit damage, however, and suddenly you are up around 120k damage. The way the later acts are balanced at the moment that is the path you want to be taking. To paraphrase Rodney Dangerfield in Caddyshack: "If you own anything but Crit, you own a popcorn fart." Crit is so powerful it often overrides what might seem commonsense gearing decisions.
Playing my new Witch Doctor over these last few weeks I've hit a brick wall in gearing. Barring getting a superb weapon upgrade, the only way for me to begin advancing my damage again is to start building serious crit. Which is, not only a massive stat allocation reserve when choosing your items but also a massive investment of currency. That is where you are gonna find the biggest divide between players. Those that can afford the insane premiums on Crit gear and those that can't and are thus gated from playing the higher acts because Crit is the only game in town.