solo?

[LochnarITB]

Is anyone else here playing without a follower? When I play solo, I want to play solo, not even the follower. I get rid of any followers at the earliest opportunity but I'm concerned the game is not going to allow me to continue doing so.

I have not yet finished normal. Lochnar is using MM/orb/hydra/bliz and has done OK so far but I seem to have run into a wall named Rakanoth. It doesn't matter I went back and looked at it some more. I slapped on a board and used diamond skin/crystal shell to absorb just enough damage to survive and kite between potions and orb drops from his little buddies. Dead Rakanoth. (Loving the instant respecs!)

The question remains. Am I the only one that relegates their followers to the cheering section? Is that foolish? For those that love their little buddy, which one is your go to? Are they just a necessary evil or are you thinking of naming your next child after yours? Some lochnars want to know.

[MongoJerry]

The question remains. Am I the only one that relegates their followers to the cheering section? Is that foolish? For those that love their little buddy, which one is your go to? Are they just a necessary evil or are you thinking of naming your next child after yours? Some lochnars want to know.

I'm sure you're not the only one, but I enjoy playing with the followers. Their damage output is really beside the point for me. The main thing they provide is a little extra crowd control.

I most often play with the Templar with my wizard. I use him as a meat shield distracting mobs in front of me. I choose to have him use the taunt skill when my health gets below 50% to taunt mobs off me, his low level healing aura, his charge that does an aoe stun for 2 seconds, and his special charge that heals me and knocks back enemies surrounding me when I get seriously hurt. Unfortunately, his AI isn't terrific, and I find that a lot of mobs will just walk right by him to attack me instead -- so he's not like having a big meat-shield barbarian in your party. I definitely want to understand his AI and the AI of mobs better to see if I can use him more effectively. Still, I find that he distracts enough mobs that I find him useful.

The other follower I've played with a lot on my Wizard is the enchantress. Her every 10-second AOE knockback is great for keeping mobs away, her 15% armor aura is great for mitigating damage, and her AOE confuse and "chicken" abilities are also great sometimes. Of course, again, her AI isn't perfect. The AOE confuse and "chicken" abilities have long cooldowns (45 seconds and 60 seconds iirc) and sometimes she wastes them on situations that don't need them and doesn't use them during situations that they could really be useful. However, I do think she adds a nice dimension to the gameplay.

If you're used to playing without a follower, I'd recommend the enchantress, since she wouldn't change how you play very much. She'd just add in some nice general cc abilities and a nice aura while providing a small amount of dps.

Note by the way that followers get 2.5x the benefit from any stats like str, int, and vitality, so if you give them some good high stat rings, amulets, and weapons, it makes a big difference with them.

[Elric of Grans]

I know a lot of people do not use them because they activate mobs you are not yet ready to face. This is especially common with Treasure Goblins!

I like their inclusion. The banter is reminiscent of Baldur's Gate II, which is something I really appreciate and wish more companies did. The only one I have any real experience with is the Templar. In Normal and Nightmare, he was absolutely fantastic for my Demon Hunter and Wizard. Healing, some CC and an extra body to distract enemies from me. Fantastic. I have found him less useful in Hell difficulty. His Life and Armour are both well below my Demon Hunter's, so he tends to die quickly when I run against nasty Elite groups. His Heals do not scale well either, so he heals me for less than 10% of my total life now (used to be something like 25% at lower levels). I still keep him, however; partly for the banter, and partly because I have found an exploit. I can sometimes (not reliably, I must admit) position him in such a way that it breaks enemy pathfinding AI, which I use without reservation whenever I get one of those stupid difficulty spikes. I have never once parked an `unkillable' mob and only twice quit because of them

I have used the Enchantress a little with my Monk (he is still in Act II/Normal, so very little). I like what she adds, but her banter is awful. Why did they have to take the Barbie Doll route with her? Every time she opens her mouth, a little bit of respect in me dies.

[Treesh]

I have used the Enchantress a little with my Monk (he is still in Act II/Normal, so very little). I like what she adds, but her banter is awful. Why did they have to take the Barbie Doll route with her? Every time she opens her mouth, a little bit of respect in me dies.

This is why I'm glad when my monk responds with "Is that really important?" and "I just don't think about such things" every time the enchantress twitters on. It amuses me to hear my girl tell her to shut up about the flowers and how attractive people think my monk is (who is totally hot btw in her royal dyes ).

I really haven't bothered to use the scoundrel on anyone though besides just hiring him to get the achievement and then parking him in town.

[swirly]

I always use a follower. I've given a little thought to which for which class even.

Witch Doctor: Enchantress
Monk: Scoundrel
Barbarian: Enchantress
Wizard: Templar
Demon Hunter: Templar

I've debated the Templar for my Witch Doctor, but mobs just ignore him so much more than any of my other pets. It has made me think I need to do some testing to see if STR on him helps or not.

[Archon_Wing]

I like followers so much because I liked mercs in d2. They were like an extension of your character. Sadly they cannot be played in multiplayer. I think one follower per party would be fair. It wouldn't be a big difference. But res'ing them should cost money...

[DeeBye]

My Witch Doctor relies on his Templar buddy. They have a real bromance going on.

[Kevin]

I like followers so much because I liked mercs in d2. They were like an extension of your character. Sadly they cannot be played in multiplayer. I think one follower per party would be fair. It wouldn't be a big difference. But res'ing them should cost money...

In one version of the beta you would keep followers as long as there weren't more than 4 "characters" in the party. So two players 2 followers, 3 players 1 follower. I can't remember what the logic was that chose who got to keep the follower, it might have just been the game creator. I'm not sure when or why they took that out. I wouldn't mind seeing it come back.


As to Loch's question, I do use followers and it changes based on class and sometimes spec, spec is mostly with the witch doctor if I have a lot minions or not, though I'm debating it on my monk. I got to laugh at the templar the other day. We killed our first mob together and he spouts off with "I tried to count how many we've killed but I lost track." It was good to know that he was extra stupid that day.

[Chesspiece_face]

I didn't touch the followers until late Hell/Inferno. Prior to that point they were just too frustrating to be worthwhile. Any bonuses they offered weren't worth watching a treasure goblin get away. Now that I am in Inferno I've got bigger issues to worry about than a missed treasure goblin so Followers it is!

Out of all of them the strongest one I've found is the Enchantress. I originally specced her for the 10 second knockback, but after too many instances of her actually helping the beastly Inferno champs by pushing them to me while I was kiting that skill had to go.

I've never found a decent use for the Scoundrel where I wouldn't just flat-out rather have had the Enchantress.

The Templar is decent. I don't think his skillset is anywhere near as good as the Enchantress but he does have the benefit of being able to have one more item slot that can be filled with MF if that is your thing.

[MongoJerry]

I didn't touch the followers until late Hell/Inferno. Prior to that point they were just too frustrating to be worthwhile. Any bonuses they offered weren't worth watching a treasure goblin get away. Now that I am in Inferno I've got bigger issues to worry about than a missed treasure goblin so Followers it is!

I think you exaggerate the problem with treasure goblins. Even when my templar does charge a treasure goblin, I can teleport to the other side of the goblin and force him back to the direction I want him to go. I've never had a problem killing a treasure goblin in single player -- unless the goblin is in the middle of a whole bunch of other mobs and my own aoe spell ends up triggering him. But that wasn't the fault of the Templar.

[NiteFox]

My Witch Doctor relies on his Templar buddy. They have a real bromance going on.

Less bromance with my WD (Since she's a... she) but Kormac has kept her alive more than any other follower can. Given the choice I would prefer Lyndon for his banter.

So... How are criminals treated where you come from?

[Tuftears]

I ran my female barbarian (ugh, terrible voice acting) with the scoundrel for normal, and was amused by his banter. He actually tried to flirt with... Ah, I'll avoid spoilers for people who haven't beaten the game yet.

[NiteFox]

I ran my female barbarian (ugh, terrible voice acting) with the scoundrel for normal, and was amused by his banter. He actually tried to flirt with... Ah, I'll avoid spoilers for people who haven't beaten the game yet.

He attempts to flirt with every female character. In fairness, so does the Enchantress.

[Concillian]

The scoundrel's banter was pretty good the first few times I used him. I liked it when we were on the Act I quest where you look for the cart with goatman staff in it for the woman you rescue for the spider queen.

Running around in that field, at some point he goes:
"This has to be the WORST place to leave a cart"

I found that pretty amusing.

Other than that, melee chars often use the enchantress for free +15% armor and +3% attack speed buffs, and ranged often use the Templar as a meat shield. But indeed, they WILL go off and attack monsters you haven't woken up yet, and this can get you into real trouble.

[NuurAbSaal]

So... How are criminals treated where you come from?

"What a monstrous creature!"

...

take care
Tarabulus

[ViralSpiral]

So... How are criminals treated where you come from?

Usually we have to call them "sir", either because they're multimillionaires, or high ranking officials. Why, how does your country treat them?

[FoxBat]

Is anyone else here playing without a follower? When I play solo, I want to play solo, not even the follower. I get rid of any followers at the earliest opportunity but I'm concerned the game is not going to allow me to continue doing so.

Every bit helps but they aren't all that strong really. I think you'll survive without 1/6th-1/8th your DPS and 3% bonus whatever. They are especially gimped in being unable to wear most inferno equipment (always level 59.)

[MMAgCh]

They are especially gimped in being unable to wear most inferno equipment (always level 59.)

Huh? My level 60 monk's best buddy very much is a L60 enchantress. (Although the other two followers, whom I haven't been using at all, are both L59 right now.) Are you sure about this?

[MongoJerry]

I forgot one of the key bonuses of followers -- the shouts they give when they see a champion or boss pack. E.g. the Templar yells out "By all that is Holy! Do you see that monster over there!" It has more than once woken me up to the danger of a champ or boss pack, when I was too focused fighting a different group regular mobs. Their "awareness" radius seems to be pretty good, too. I will often hear their yell when the pack is just off or just coming on screen.

[LochnarITB]

Thanks for the responses. So far I am still going with no follower, but I don't think that is going to last. I'm finding that I really seem to suck at this incarnation of D and any little bit of help will probably help.