Inferno easier?

[BellaStrega]

I stopped playing Diablo III after 1.03 because changes made my level 60 monk less survivable in inferno and made playing too physically painful, so I haven't been paying a lot of attention.

However, I logged in this morning and ran through the Warden and the Butcher, and found that fights with boss and champion packs were significantly less painful, standing in desecration and plagued patches was not as damaging (although I didn't make a point to stay long), that I had an easier time in general dealing with bosses and champions and did not experience the pain I used to get, which pushed me away from playing.

I saw that the DiabloWiki says that Inferno has had significant nerfs, but the patch notes didn't seem to clearly describe them.

Anyway, it looks like the current (1.04) and upcoming (1.05) has made the game playable for me again.

Edit to add: Specifically, I went from being able to handle the early part of Act II with some difficulty to dying constantly due to the attack speed reduction in 1.03. I could still defeat bosses and champions in Act I, but due to survivability and dps loss, it was tedious and painful, and thus not worth my time.

[Archon_Wing]

1.04 had some significant nerfs to elites monster damage though I don't think it was that much easier than 1.03. Invul minions and enrage timers were removed though. The later won't be missed.

It really depends on what build you were using. Despite the massive nerf, attack speed is still the best offensive stat you can stack.

Also, if you're using Mantra of Healing, switch. It's trash thanks to the nerfs on it. I've pretty much inputted everyone's I know's monks in the EHP calculator as well as mine through all kinds of gear configuration from offense to gold find to my standard gear set, and MoH has always been the inferior choice.

[BellaStrega]

1.04 had some significant nerfs to elites monster damage though I don't think it was that much easier than 1.03. Invul minions and enrage timers were removed though. The later won't be missed.

It really depends on what build you were using. Despite the massive nerf, attack speed is still the best offensive stat you can stack.

My problem was the attack speed reductions reduced my incoming healing from life on hit stats (gems and item stats) and outgoing damage by just enough to make the fights physically painful for me. Whatever changes were in 1.04 seems to have mitigated this significantly, as I played with very little pain after going through the last third or so of Act I.

Also, if you're using Mantra of Healing, switch. It's trash thanks to the nerfs on it. I've pretty much inputted everyone's I know's monks in the EHP calculator as well as mine through all kinds of gear configuration from offense to gold find to my standard gear set, and MoH has always been the inferior choice.

I currently use Mantra of Conviction with overawe, although I do not recall which rune. Thank you for the heads up on MoH, although I recall when I last played it wasn't all that great.

Actually, this is my current build: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Ashle...ero/241807

I am experimenting with sweeping wind runes at the moment. I'm probably going to switch to Faith in the Light from Searing Light in Blinding Flash, at least to see how it goes.

Definitely need to up my resists.

[Archon_Wing]

Ah, ok, the pain of pre-1.03 weapons. It's hard to appreciate how bad the itemization was then and still in 1.03. I can see why the AS nerf happened and hurt a lot of builds. Fortunately drops and ilvl 61-62 weapons have improved.

You'll definitely need to upgrade your weapons. These days, 700-800 dps daggers with LOH are extremely cheap. I would get one with LOH and one with a socket (socket the later with an emerald.). The market for weapons has crashed so utterly that it's quite scary to see how cheap it is.

If you don't want to use the AH I most likely have many, many random weapons that failed to sell that can help. Though believe it or not, you can actually farm your own upgrades too. 61-63 now drops in act 1 and 61-62 weapons are no longer useless. These days, Act 3/4 hell can drop as well as release Act 1 Inferno! This also makes inferno easier.

The next focus are your rings. I think any IAS one with 80 dex will help, resists are frosting but should be pretty trivial to find.

Finally, you aren't using one with everything enough so stacking more physical resist is a priority. You have a lot of LOH atm, so I would transfer from transcendence to resolve. Transcendence helps if you have little or no LOH/life regen, but since you are fine there I would go with resolve's damage mitigation, or maybe even the guardian's path. The guardian's path might be better if you're getting gibbed before you reach your target.

[BellaStrega]

Ah, ok, the pain of pre-1.03 weapons. It's hard to appreciate how bad the itemization was then and still in 1.03. I can see why the AS nerf happened and hurt a lot of builds. Fortunately drops and ilvl 61-62 weapons have improved.

You'll definitely need to upgrade your weapons. These days, 700-800 dps daggers with LOH are extremely cheap. I would get one with LOH and one with a socket (socket the later with an emerald.). The market for weapons has crashed so utterly that it's quite scary to see how cheap it is.

Yeah, I bought those two in the auction house pre-1.03 for something ridiculous, like a few hundred thousand gold.

If you don't want to use the AH I most likely have many, many random weapons that failed to sell that can help. Though believe it or not, you can actually farm your own upgrades too. 61-63 now drops in act 1 and 61-62 weapons are no longer useless. These days, Act 3/4 hell can drop as well as release Act 1 Inferno! This also makes inferno easier.

I've noticed the drops are much better now.

The next focus are your rings. I think any IAS one with 80 dex will help, resists are frosting but should be pretty trivial to find.

In this case, these rings were originally +15% IAS, purchased from a vendor in Tristram, and were the best I could get at the time. Obviously, times have changed.

Finally, you aren't using one with everything enough so stacking more physical resist is a priority. You have a lot of LOH atm, so I would transfer from transcendence to resolve. Transcendence helps if you have little or no LOH/life regen, but since you are fine there I would go with resolve's damage mitigation, or maybe even the guardian's path. The guardian's path might be better if you're getting gibbed before you reach your target.

This was something I was trying to correct before. Finding items that were actual upgrades or sidegrades rather than clear downgrades with resists that I could afford was more frustrating and difficult than it really should have been.

Thanks for advice.

[BellaStrega]

And first Act I completion after gear upgrade went fairly smoothly.