Rares and Champions...

[FireIceTalon]

Where do you think those awesome items on the AH came from? Somebody found it killing the monster you couldn't.

Exactly.

(Not at Quark)
Welcome to the Diablo series...again.

It's all about killing mobs for what they *might* drop. This isn't WoW raiding where you know the loot table, and how many of what quality will drop, and to make it that way would make it no longer Diablo.

If it's too much effort for you, then drop back to Hell, or play another game. Inferno is for people who LIKE beating their heads on the wall. If you don't, then it's not for you.

---

Maybe you enjoy that, but if so, you are in the vast MINORITY.

Source? Don't project your opinions on everyone else.

Inferno is there for the people who like it. Hell and below is for everyone else.

My source? Just go take one look at Diablo Inc forums, or the official Blizz forums regarding this topic....almost all there will agree with me, I promise you this. D3's loot system is broken, period.

And I'm not even talking about Inferno difficulty yet, this problem is starting as early as the latter part of Act I Hell Difficulty. In D1 and D2, the drop rates were much better, especially for the time you put in. Sure, the items were still rare, but you didnt have to fight 1 mob for 15 mins+ either to find stuff, whereas here you do. I havent even seen one Legendary item drop yet. For the time you put in in D3 fighting one mob, the reward is not nearly large enough - and it FORCES people to use the AH even if they dont want to.

[Mavfin]

My source? Just go take one look at Diablo Inc forums, or the official Blizz forums regarding this topic....almost all there will agree with me, I promise you this. D3's loot system is broken, period.

Oh, right. As if official forums are a hotbed of truth. Do better if you want to be taken seriously. And the forums, as in WoW are just a tiny fraction of the actual playerbase. Sales of over 5 million, not counting AP, against a few thousand unhappy on the official forums? Pretty small to redesign a game over, isn't it?

The loot system is as designed. If you don't like the design, then maybe you're in the wrong game. As Quark said, *someone* went out and got that nice gear that's on the AH. Blizzard didn't put it there to sell. You can get there, too, if you want. Or you can decide it's too hard.

[Pesmerga]

My source? Just go take one look at Diablo Inc forums, or the official Blizz forums regarding this topic....almost all there will agree with me, I promise you this.

And I'm not even talking about Inferno difficulty yet, this problem is starting as early as Act I Hell Difficulty. In D1 and D2, the drop rates were much better, especially for the time you put in. Sure, the items were still rare, but you didnt have to fight 1 mob for 15 mins+ either to find stuff. For the time you put in in D3 fighting one mob, the reward is not nearly large enough - and it FORCES people to use the AH even if they dont want to.

The issue with using the forums as your source is that what you're seeing is only the small number of people who are actively complaining. The data set is too small to definitively say one way or the other.

A couple hundred, maybe even a thousand are complaining via the forums. How many people purchased the game? 6.3 million in the first week (based on a quick search.)

Even if 10,000 people are complaining over the forums, that's still just 0.15% of the people who own the game. We have no true metric.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you don't have a valid complaint (I'm also not saying you do.) I'm just saying we'd have a hard time coming up with the numbers saying or side or the other is in the Majority.

[FireIceTalon]

^^It is more than large enough a sample size to give a fairly accurate representation of how the majority feels - especially since it is on two of the most prominent Diablo forums on the internet. It is a bet i'd be willing to take to Vegas

[Quark]

^^It is more than large enough a sample size to give a fairly accurate representation of how the majority feels - especially since it is on two of the most prominent Diablo forums on the internet. It is a bet i'd be willing to take to Vegas

I am increasingly motivated to target the poster instead of the post.

Upset people post on the popular forums very often saying X system sucks. Non-upset people post on the popular forums very rarely saying X system is awesome. This was true for WoW, SC2, FFXIII, ME3, and any other recent game you can fathom.

This is also why metacritic is terrible (discussed in another thread, for ME3 no less).

[FireIceTalon]

Either way, whether most agree with it or not, my point holds true in practice. You either use the AH to advance, or you wear yourself out with 20+ minute battles, dying multiple times, and rarely getting anything to show for it. And its not like this happens here, and there. These packs show up within yards of eachother all the time. Some of the traits they have make it so you have no control over your char at all, and a few combinations are even outright impossible to beat (like Immunity with Vortex, Jailer/waller and Molten). I dont mind dying if something is in my control, like letting myself get mobbed, drinking a pot too late, etc. But when you have a system that GUARANTEES death, no matter how sick your gear is, regardless of how well you kite or tank, no matter how much dps you do, and no matter how much life you have, it really makes for a tiring experience that can lead to boredom or frustration. This is NOT what Diablo is supposed to be about. Its about slaying hordes of demons, finding, loot, and building your char until it is perfect/near perfect or playing PvP in the end game. This Rare/Champion system combined with weak loot really compromises what is otherwise a brilliant game. Will I still play it? Sure, probably. But I think nevertheless fixing this flaw would really make the game all that much better, because outside of that this game is really awesome. I really didnt want to have to use the AH but it is forced, which means I now have to focus on gold farming when I would rather be ITEM farming. Cause finding items to self build your char is much more fun (for me anyway) than having to farm gold to purchase items that are necessary to have so you can survive (somewhat) in the higher difficulties. In other words, playing a "purist" is simply out of the question if you want to make it far. I wouldn't mind using the AH as a sort of "luxury" thing to make an improvement every now and then to my char after I am lvl 60 in slots where I need an upgrade, but to HAVE TO use it, as you currently do, just doesn't seem logical to me in terms of what this game has historically been about. And what makes it worse, is that you STILL have to face those rares/champions quite often while you are gold farming, so even that is no easy matter.

[Chesspiece_face]

I am increasingly motivated to target the poster instead of the post.

Upset people post on the popular forums very often saying X system sucks. Non-upset people post on the popular forums very rarely saying X system is awesome. This was true for WoW, SC2, FFXIII, ME3, and any other recent game you can fathom.

This is also why metacritic is terrible (discussed in another thread, for ME3 no less).

It's called the "Vocal Minority" for a reason. They are Vocal, and they are the Minority...

---

Either way, whether most agree with it or not, my point holds true in practice. You either use the AH to advance, or you wear yourself out with 20+ minute battles, dying multiple times, and rarely getting anything to show for it. And its not like this happens here, and there. These packs show up within yards of eachother all the time. Some of the traits they have make it so you have no control over your char at all, and a few combinations are even outright impossible to beat (like Immunity with Vortex, Jailer/waller and Molten). I dont mind dying if something is in my control, like letting myself get mobbed, drinking a pot too late, etc. But when you have a system that GUARANTEES death, no matter how sick your gear is, regardless of how well you kite or tank, no matter how much dps you do, and no matter how much life you have, it really makes for a tiring experience that can lead to boredom or frustration. This is NOT what Diablo is supposed to be about. Its about slaying hordes of demons, finding, loot, and building your char until it is perfect/near perfect or playing PvP in the end game. This Rare/Champion system combined with weak loot really compromises what is otherwise a brilliant game. Will I still play it? Sure, probably. But I think nevertheless fixing this flaw would really make the game all that much better, because outside of that this game is really awesome. I really didnt want to have to use the AH but it is forced, which means I now have to focus on gold farming when I would rather be ITEM farming. Cause finding items to self build your char is much more fun (for me anyway) than having to farm gold to purchase items that are necessary to have so you can survive (somewhat) in the higher difficulties. In other words, playing a "purist" is simply out of the question if you want to make it far. I wouldn't mind using the AH as a sort of "luxury" thing to make an improvement every now and then to my char after I am lvl 60 in slots where I need an upgrade, but to HAVE TO use it, as you currently do, just doesn't seem logical to me in terms of what this game has historically been about. And what makes it worse, is that you STILL have to face those rares/champions quite often while you are gold farming, so even that is no easy matter.

Where in the game rules does it say that you can't go back to easier content and farm up your gold/gear? If you don't have the gear to tackle a certain level of content don't bitch at the developers to change it. Go back and get better gear at easier levels.

[Taelas]

^^It is more than large enough a sample size to give a fairly accurate representation of how the majority feels - especially since it is on two of the most prominent Diablo forums on the internet. It is a bet i'd be willing to take to Vegas

You clearly don't understand how representation works. For any given product, there is on average 1% of people who will be extremely active in a community about the product, 9% who will participate in a community, and the remaining 90% will either have nothing to complain about or will suffer in silence--they virtually never join any kind of online community. It's called the 90-9-1 principle.

No matter what, you are not going to learn what the "majority" feels about the loot system by looking at public forums, because the vast majority of people don't talk about the game on public forums.

So if you take your bet to Vegas, expect to lose your money.

[FireIceTalon]

I am increasingly motivated to target the poster instead of the post.

Upset people post on the popular forums very often saying X system sucks. Non-upset people post on the popular forums very rarely saying X system is awesome. This was true for WoW, SC2, FFXIII, ME3, and any other recent game you can fathom.

This is also why metacritic is terrible (discussed in another thread, for ME3 no less).

It's called the "Vocal Minority" for a reason. They are Vocal, and they are the Minority...

---

Either way, whether most agree with it or not, my point holds true in practice. You either use the AH to advance, or you wear yourself out with 20+ minute battles, dying multiple times, and rarely getting anything to show for it. And its not like this happens here, and there. These packs show up within yards of eachother all the time. Some of the traits they have make it so you have no control over your char at all, and a few combinations are even outright impossible to beat (like Immunity with Vortex, Jailer/waller and Molten). I dont mind dying if something is in my control, like letting myself get mobbed, drinking a pot too late, etc. But when you have a system that GUARANTEES death, no matter how sick your gear is, regardless of how well you kite or tank, no matter how much dps you do, and no matter how much life you have, it really makes for a tiring experience that can lead to boredom or frustration. This is NOT what Diablo is supposed to be about. Its about slaying hordes of demons, finding, loot, and building your char until it is perfect/near perfect or playing PvP in the end game. This Rare/Champion system combined with weak loot really compromises what is otherwise a brilliant game. Will I still play it? Sure, probably. But I think nevertheless fixing this flaw would really make the game all that much better, because outside of that this game is really awesome. I really didnt want to have to use the AH but it is forced, which means I now have to focus on gold farming when I would rather be ITEM farming. Cause finding items to self build your char is much more fun (for me anyway) than having to farm gold to purchase items that are necessary to have so you can survive (somewhat) in the higher difficulties. In other words, playing a "purist" is simply out of the question if you want to make it far. I wouldn't mind using the AH as a sort of "luxury" thing to make an improvement every now and then to my char after I am lvl 60 in slots where I need an upgrade, but to HAVE TO use it, as you currently do, just doesn't seem logical to me in terms of what this game has historically been about. And what makes it worse, is that you STILL have to face those rares/champions quite often while you are gold farming, so even that is no easy matter.

Where in the game rules does it say that you can't go back to easier content and farm up your gold/gear? If you don't have the gear to tackle a certain level of content don't bitch at the developers to change it. Go back and get better gear at easier levels.

You don't seem to get it. So let me spell it out for you in nice big capital letters:

THE-LOOT-SYSTEM-IS-BROKEN. THE-FREQUENCY-THAT-YOU-FIND-ITEMS, REGARDLESS-OF-WHERE-YOU-FARM, IS-INCREDIBLY-LOW. THUS, YOU-ARE-FORCED-TO-USE-THE AUCTION HOUSE.

And because the quality of gear that drops is dependent on difficulty, you HAVE to farm the highest possible difficulty in which you can play to get the possible gear that is available (an exception being Act 4 of hell difficulty, which is required to farm supposedly to stand a chance before taking on Inferno). This isnt D1, where I can just farm normal hell for items by doing Laz runs or dlvl 16 if I want to find a Dragon's Ring of the Zodiac or something. YOU HAVE to farm the difficulty you are in, as well as the particular act you are in if you want any chance to improve your gear - except that the chance is so slim it that it really makes fighting Champs/Elites much more effort than it is worth. The only solution is to go to an easier area within that act/difficulty and farm gold. But, those packs are there as well (they dont just go away), and besides, this is what I am detesting in the first place. I'm in Act II on hell mode right now, with a near lvl 57 DH, and have no choice really but to farm here (to get good exp also) and stock up on gold. Going back to Act I wouldnt make any sense, since I would get less exp in those quests and have virtually no chance at improving any slot. Blizz either needs to nerf the champ/elite packs, or make the drop rates much better (the difficulty of most of these mobs justifies at least a yellow item drop guarantee) - forcing me to rely on the AH really kills the spirit of Diablo is really about.

And as a person who purchased their product, I have every right to bitch about the content if I so desire, and I will do so. Dont be ridiculous. In fact, it is our DUTY as consumers, especially in this industry, to point to flaws or problems that should be addressed to make the product better. Your 'appeal to nature' argument almost made me throw up a little bit in my mouth.

[VinnieJones]

Ah yes, treating someone like a moron. That will definitely win them over. Well played sir, well played. What you are presenting is an opinion not fact, so try not to browbeat people too much with it.

[Roland]

THUS, YOU-ARE-FORCED-TO-USE-THE AUCTION HOUSE.

Let's assume for a moment you're correct in this statement. Has it ever occurred to you that this is what Blizzard wants? Serious question.

That said, the answer is right in front of you: if you can't cut it in Hell without buying off the AH, either you need to buy off the AH or you need to farm Nightmare. It really is that simple. The most frequent things I've bought off the AH are crossbows. Short of damage, I've made it to Act III Hell wearing gear I found in Act III Normal. I've upgraded almost every piece I own now to Hell-level gear, and it's made the going much easier, but it certainly wasn't impossible before - just more tedius.

If you don't want to buy off the AH don't. If you can't cut it in Hell, go back to Nightmare. Get yourself to level 60 and get those Nephalem stacks, then start farming. I'm working my way through Act III Hell right now, a couple bubbles away from 60, and that's what I'm going to do - keep pushing until I hit 60, then start farming a bit so I can handle the rest of Hell and enter Inferno.

It sucks getting crappy drops, but it's really no different than any previous Diablo game. The only difference is the spike in difficulty is a bit higher in D3 than D2 (and much moreso than D1). Thus, you farm the previous Act, or reroll your encounters. Change up your skills. Do something to adjust to the game because the game is not going to change for you. This is the business model Blizzard wants. End of story. Live with it or leave it. Choice is yours.

And as a person who purchased their product, I have every right to bitch about the content if I so desire. Dont be ridiculous. In fact, it is our DUTY as consumers, especially in this industry, to point to flaws or problems that should be addressed to make the product better. Your 'appeal to nature' argument almost made me throw up a little bit in my mouth.

You're absolutely right. You as a consumer have a right to your opinion about a product. You have a right to express that opinion to the merchant and/or manufacturer. They have no obligation to listen to you, however, and Blizzard's stance in the past has always been "We know better," at least when it comes to games. So, good luck with your complaints. You won't change a thing, though.

[Lissa]

Ah yes, the whole instant gratification situation.

The reason Blizzard has things setup the way they do is to keep people playing. If you could walk into each act, get the best possible gear you could in a few short kills, why would you really continue playing? The loot system is done the way it is done to keep people playing, if it was like handing out candy to everyone, then everyone would quickly get bored and then no one would continue to really play except the die hard variant scum™.

Blizzard knows what they're doing, they're milking the cow for everything it's worth.

[FireIceTalon]

THUS, YOU-ARE-FORCED-TO-USE-THE AUCTION HOUSE.

Let's assume for a moment you're correct in this statement. Has it ever occurred to you that this is what Blizzard wants? Serious question.

That said, the answer is right in front of you: if you can't cut it in Hell without buying off the AH, either you need to buy off the AH or you need to farm Nightmare. It really is that simple. The most frequent things I've bought off the AH are crossbows. Short of damage, I've made it to Act III Hell wearing gear I found in Act III Normal. I've upgraded almost every piece I own now to Hell-level gear, and it's made the going much easier, but it certainly wasn't impossible before - just more tedius.

If you don't want to buy off the AH don't. If you can't cut it in Hell, go back to Nightmare. Get yourself to level 60 and get those Nephalem stacks, then start farming. I'm working my way through Act III Hell right now, a couple bubbles away from 60, and that's what I'm going to do - keep pushing until I hit 60, then start farming a bit so I can handle the rest of Hell and enter Inferno.

It sucks getting crappy drops, but it's really no different than any previous Diablo game. The only difference is the spike in difficulty is a bit higher in D3 than D2 (and much moreso than D1). Thus, you farm the previous Act, or reroll your encounters. Change up your skills. Do something to adjust to the game because the game is not going to change for you. This is the business model Blizzard wants. End of story. Live with it or leave it. Choice is yours.

And as a person who purchased their product, I have every right to bitch about the content if I so desire. Dont be ridiculous. In fact, it is our DUTY as consumers, especially in this industry, to point to flaws or problems that should be addressed to make the product better. Your 'appeal to nature' argument almost made me throw up a little bit in my mouth.

You're absolutely right. You as a consumer have a right to your opinion about a product. You have a right to express that opinion to the merchant and/or manufacturer. They have no obligation to listen to you, however, and Blizzard's stance in the past has always been "We know better," at least when it comes to games. So, good luck with your complaints. You won't change a thing, though.

Yea, that 'we know better argument' sure worked out when they claimed no one would get to Inferno difficulty for months. Not only are the plenty of people in it, but more than a few are already in Act 4. LMAO at Blizzard. Blizz has always grossly underestimated their audience our 'nerdiness'. Heh.

Anyway, yes, getting lvl 60 will help for sure if all I have heard about drop rates increasing is true. This really makes the game seem so backwards from prior games though, where you generally had the best gear or close to it once you were max level, and you did farming here and there to make small upgrades. Here, it seems the REAL game doesnt even start until after you are 60.

Blizz may want us to use the AH, but I cannot understand their logic in this. It is so much more rewarding to find your own items, and it is a surreal feeling when you see that epic piece of gear drop after slaughtering a tough foe. But now, that seems to be gone for the most part. I am forced to buy a piece of gear that someone else found in order to make my char strong enough to progress through the game. I don't mind there being an AH, but I would much rather use it as a way of upgrading on an occasional basis for a slot that I am having poor luck in finding or crafting. But to have to rely on it almost entirely as we do, is a completely different thing altogether. IDK, maybe I am just trapped too much in nostalgia, but item farming is partially what really made the first two games so loved. Now, it just seems like that is gone once you beat normal.

And besides, some of the combination of traits in these packs are UNBEATABLE, regardless of what gear you have, in particular Vortex with jailer or waller, molten or plague. I just had one mob that would just cast vortex, then use molten, and i'm dead in 1 or 2 hits. Had to leave the game, as any thought of being able to kill them was futile. This is too much of an unfair advantage against the player, because basically guarantees death without any hope of being able to kill them. Some traits shouldnt be able to spawn together, and there are at least a few that shouldnt be in the game at all. If I want to play a game that is similar to doing chores, I will go play a Nintendo game from the 80's, but this sorta stuff has NO place in an RPG.

[Taelas]

Dude. You can still farm Nightmare. You don't have to go beat your head against a wall in Hell with inferior gear if you don't want to buy gear off the AH; you can just stay in Nightmare. It's that simple.

You are arguing a problem that doesn't exist.

[Chesspiece_face]

You don't seem to get it. So let me spell it out for you in nice big capital letters:

THE-LOOT-SYSTEM-IS-BROKEN. THE-FREQUENCY-THAT-YOU-FIND-ITEMS, REGARDLESS-OF-WHERE-YOU-FARM, IS-INCREDIBLY-LOW. THUS, YOU-ARE-FORCED-TO-USE-THE AUCTION HOUSE.

And because the quality of gear that drops is dependent on difficulty, you HAVE to farm the highest possible difficulty in which you can play to get the possible gear that is available (an exception being Act 4 of hell difficulty, which is required to farm supposedly to stand a chance before taking on Inferno).

There is no nice way to rebut this so I won't try. Your assertion is absolute and complete Bullshit. This is coming from someone who has picked up items here and there from the AH and still 90% of the gear I am using in Hell has been self obtained. Some of the key pieces of gear I am still using is Lvl 26-30 req. Other than a few key pieces (IE your weapon) You can easily play in Hell difficultiy with iLvL 26-45 items. You just need to know what stats to look for on those particular pieces.

Again, I have been incredibly lucky with drops. But if I were to trade many of my ilvl 44-50 items for ilvl 26-35 items with similar qualities of the ilvl 26-35 items I am currently using in Hell I would still be able to progress.

[FireIceTalon]

You don't seem to get it. So let me spell it out for you in nice big capital letters:

THE-LOOT-SYSTEM-IS-BROKEN. THE-FREQUENCY-THAT-YOU-FIND-ITEMS, REGARDLESS-OF-WHERE-YOU-FARM, IS-INCREDIBLY-LOW. THUS, YOU-ARE-FORCED-TO-USE-THE AUCTION HOUSE.

And because the quality of gear that drops is dependent on difficulty, you HAVE to farm the highest possible difficulty in which you can play to get the possible gear that is available (an exception being Act 4 of hell difficulty, which is required to farm supposedly to stand a chance before taking on Inferno).

There is no nice way to rebut this so I won't try. Your assertion is absolute and complete Bullshit. This is coming from someone who has picked up items here and there from the AH and still 90% of the gear I am using in Hell has been self obtained. Some of the key pieces of gear I am still using is Lvl 26-30 req. Other than a few key pieces (IE your weapon) You can easily play in Hell difficultiy with iLvL 26-45 items. You just need to know what stats to look for on those particular pieces.

Again, I have been incredibly lucky with drops. But if I were to trade many of my ilvl 44-50 items for ilvl 26-35 items with similar qualities of the ilvl 26-35 items I am currently using in Hell I would still be able to progress.

try to rebut it how you will, I couldn't care less regardless, you are still wrong either way. Fact.

No, you cannot "easily" play hell difficulty with lvl 26-45 items. You can play with them, but its not worth the time or effort to do so. To even play the first act comfortably, you need to be doing around 3k dmg minimum with a life pool of at least 20k, otherwise you are in for a rough time. I was forced to buy items on the AH just to be able to get through the first act at a decent pace.

So you have been incredibly luck with drops. Anecdotal evidence. How many Legendaries have you found? I bet not more than 1 or 2. For every person like you, there are hundreds who havent been so fortunate.

---

Dude. You can still farm Nightmare. You don't have to go beat your head against a wall in Hell with inferior gear if you don't want to buy gear off the AH; you can just stay in Nightmare. It's that simple.

You are arguing a problem that doesn't exist.

If I farm nightmare, then I get very little exp, at lvl 57. I want to be able to farm either gold or items AND level at a decent pace at the same time.

[Chesspiece_face]

try to rebut it how you will, I couldn't care less regardless, you are still wrong either way. Fact.

No, you cannot "easily" play hell difficulty with lvl 26-45 items. You can play with them, but its not worth the time or effort to do so. To even play the first act comfortably, you need to be doing around 3k dmg minimum with a life pool of at least 20k, otherwise you are in for a rough time

Sure, And guess what? You can easily get those stats with 26-45 ilvl items. So go back farm up the items in earlier difficulties and stop complaining.

[Lissa]

You don't seem to get it. So let me spell it out for you in nice big capital letters:

THE-LOOT-SYSTEM-IS-BROKEN. THE-FREQUENCY-THAT-YOU-FIND-ITEMS, REGARDLESS-OF-WHERE-YOU-FARM, IS-INCREDIBLY-LOW. THUS, YOU-ARE-FORCED-TO-USE-THE AUCTION HOUSE.

And because the quality of gear that drops is dependent on difficulty, you HAVE to farm the highest possible difficulty in which you can play to get the possible gear that is available (an exception being Act 4 of hell difficulty, which is required to farm supposedly to stand a chance before taking on Inferno).

There is no nice way to rebut this so I won't try. Your assertion is absolute and complete Bullshit. This is coming from someone who has picked up items here and there from the AH and still 90% of the gear I am using in Hell has been self obtained. Some of the key pieces of gear I am still using is Lvl 26-30 req. Other than a few key pieces (IE your weapon) You can easily play in Hell difficultiy with iLvL 26-45 items. You just need to know what stats to look for on those particular pieces.

Again, I have been incredibly lucky with drops. But if I were to trade many of my ilvl 44-50 items for ilvl 26-35 items with similar qualities of the ilvl 26-35 items I am currently using in Hell I would still be able to progress.

try to rebut it how you will, I couldn't care less regardless, you are still wrong either way. Fact.

No, you cannot "easily" play hell difficulty with lvl 26-45 items. You can play with them, but its not worth the time or effort to do so. To even play the first act comfortably, you need to be doing around 3k dmg minimum with a life pool of at least 20k, otherwise you are in for a rough time. I was forced to buy items on the AH just to be able to get through the first act at a decent pace.


So you have been incredibly luck with drops. Anecdotal evidence. How many Legendaries have you found? I bet not more than 1 or 2. For every person like you, there are hundreds who havent been so fortunate.

---

Utterly false. I'm doing 1.6k damage, have 13k life, and not having any real trouble solo outside of the occasional bad power combo from various champs/bosses (like jailer/molten, plague, mortar, etc or fast mobs with stupid combos) at level 52. My gear is also lackluster to say the least (I don't have rares in all slots, infact I'm wearing blue rings, a blue neck, and a blue belt) and non-crazy boss/champ combos I don't have much trouble with (die a few times on crazy combos, sometimes skip them depending) and I haven't bought anything off the AH (off the ingame vendors, yes, off the AH, no).

Dude. You can still farm Nightmare. You don't have to go beat your head against a wall in Hell with inferior gear if you don't want to buy gear off the AH; you can just stay in Nightmare. It's that simple.

You are arguing a problem that doesn't exist.

If I farm nightmare, then I get very little exp, at lvl 57. I want to be able to farm either gold or items AND level at a decent pace at the same time.

Then your choice is simple, either you go back and farm and put off leveling or you accept either buying stuff off the AH or dying more. It's up to you on what you do.

[Chesspiece_face]

If I farm nightmare, then I get very little exp, at lvl 57. I want to be able to farm either gold or items AND level at a decent pace at the same time.

And the conditions keep piling up.

First it's "I want to be able to progress but I can't because of bad drops."

Then it's " I want to get better equipment but I don't want to use the AH."

Then it's "I only can get good enough equipment from playing Hell difficulty."

All of those points are debunked so what do you go to?

"I want to do all of them at the same time while also getting reasonable experience to level up and if I can't blizzard better change it!"

[FireIceTalon]

try to rebut it how you will, I couldn't care less regardless, you are still wrong either way. Fact.

No, you cannot "easily" play hell difficulty with lvl 26-45 items. You can play with them, but its not worth the time or effort to do so. To even play the first act comfortably, you need to be doing around 3k dmg minimum with a life pool of at least 20k, otherwise you are in for a rough time

Sure, And guess what? You can easily get those stats with 26-45 ilvl items. So go back farm up the items in earlier difficulties and stop complaining.

Like I am going to try and farm items that have a drop rate of .000001% and cannot upgrade from what I have already. Yea, I dont think any logical person would waste there time doing that. AH here I come :/