Is anyone else suffering from a bad case of terrible drops in Hell Mode? I've got a Wizard at lvl 58 but most of the gear seems really, really bad. Most of the stuff I'm getting is geared around the mid-40s and when I even do get a lvl 55+ it's completely useless to me. I'm sitting on top 25,000 HP with 3,400 DAM and yeah I know it's pretty low but I can't get it any higher considering how bad the loot I'm getting from Elites and Champions (which, mind you are taking a lot of effort to kill for so little gain.)

So essentially I'm slogging through Act 2 on Hell diff. and it's beginning to annoy me. So any advice?

Edit: Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm working through Act 1 on Inferno right so something worked out.

@eroticfishcake said:

So essentially I'm slogging through Act 2 on Hell diff

That's your problem, you're highly overlevelled compared to your progression.

@eroticfishcake said:

Is anyone else suffering from a bad case of terrible drops in Hell Mode? I've got a Wizard at lvl 58 but most of the gear seems really, really bad. Most of the stuff I'm getting is geared around the mid-40s and when I even do get a lvl 55+ it's completely useless to me. I'm sitting on top 25,000 HP with 3,400 DAM and yeah I know it's pretty low but I can't get it any higher considering how bad the loot I'm getting from Elites and Champions (which, mind you are taking a lot of effort to kill for so little gain.)

So essentially I'm slogging through Act 2 on Hell diff. and it's beginning to annoy me. So any advice?

I know this will sound like overly obvious advice, but when it's back up, consider grabbing a good weapon for 100-150k on the Auction House. It'll really make the difference if you couldn't find anything on your own (you're right, 3400DPS is pretty low for your level) and hopefully make the game more fun.

@eroticfishcake said:

Is anyone else suffering from a bad case of terrible drops in Hell Mode? I've got a Wizard at lvl 58 but most of the gear seems really, really bad. Most of the stuff I'm getting is geared around the mid-40s and when I even do get a lvl 55+ it's completely useless to me. I'm sitting on top 25,000 HP with 3,400 DAM and yeah I know it's pretty low but I can't get it any higher considering how bad the loot I'm getting from Elites and Champions (which, mind you are taking a lot of effort to kill for so little gain.)

So essentially I'm slogging through Act 2 on Hell diff. and it's beginning to annoy me. So any advice?

Same thing as a Wizard lvl 53, was doing Hell first act with other duders yesterday and everyone was complaining about the same thing. Getting our asses whooped and crappy loot.

@Ares42 said:

@eroticfishcake said:

So essentially I'm slogging through Act 2 on Hell diff

That's your problem, you're highly overlevelled compared to your progression.

What does that matter?

Hell difficulty is for levels 50-60. eroticfishcake is clearly struggling despite having a higher level than perhaps he's supposed to. The problem is that the drop rates are adjusted for the existence of the Auction House, and that drops are always below your current level.

@eroticfishcake What other players seem to do in your position is to run past stuff that they can't kill and get to later Acts to find more valuable loot. These players are also buying good stuff off the AH so that they can actually kill later mobs. Your only options are to grind more, or buy stuff off the AH. Probably both.

@Ares42 said:

@eroticfishcake said:

So essentially I'm slogging through Act 2 on Hell diff

That's your problem, you're highly overlevelled compared to your progression.

Overlevelled compared to my progression is the problem? If I am then I shouldn't be having too much trouble with loot and mobs but I am.

@Giantstalker: Yeah I was afraid that might be the only solution. Still, relying on the AH to progress seems like a really horrible way to continue on. It doesn't help by the fact that people are charging ridiculous sums of gold not to mention I think the AH is borked right now.

@mosdl: I had a similar situation with a friend as well. It seems that I have better luck surviving on solo (with my templar of course). That is, until the difficulty spike smacks you in the face halfway through Act 2.

I usually just get the drops, sell them on the AH and buy my own gear, been working so far. 

@Bobby_The_Great I think people are missing out that doing that is a good if not desirable loop. When you get something you don't want or need, put it up on the auction house and buy something you do want or need.

@Panpipe: Yeah right now all I can really do is sell the crappy stuff to grind for more gold. I generally don't have any problems with the normal mobs. I would run past the Elites...if it weren't for the fact that they have Teleport, Desecrate, Fast, Jailer, Waller and so fourth only to run into another mob and be completely eviscerated in literally a second.

@EXTomar: @Bobby_The_Great: Selling stuff is also a viable option. Unfortunately people just don't seem to be interested which is odd since I'm charging 1000 gold or so for something like a level 45 armour with 99 VIT and three slots. Guess I'm just unlucky.

You can be over leveled for your progression. Each mob in each act has a level associated with it which then associates with the level of loot it can drop. It doesn't mean you can't get loot that is good for you but it's statistically unlikely you will.

Best bet is to either group up and farm harder content or do the auction hall thing. 3.4k DPS is extremely low for your level. You should be pushing 10k by the end of Hell if you are lucky. Definitely want to be in the 10k before starting inferno.

I was under geared since nightmare but managed to get to inferno because monks are pretty hard to kill. My advice is to buy a better weapon from the auction house but preferably something cheapish because 3.4k DPS is really low. Save your money for when you get to inferno.

@eroticfishcake said:

@Giantstalker: Yeah I was afraid that might be the only solution. Still, relying on the AH to progress seems like a really horrible way to continue on. It doesn't help by the fact that people are charging ridiculous sums of gold not to mention I think the AH is borked right now.

I was having a major problem finding a good Mage weapon on nightmare, the drops I was getting were crap. I looked at the AH and found plenty of reasonably priced stuff for a level higher than me, so I waited and got lucky, right before I dinged a really nice wand dropped. In a game that is pretty random, the AH will be a life saver if you are using highly underleveled gear just because it has one good attribute that nothing else you find can best.

The thing is I have no idea if any of my non-Mage loot is any good to put on the AH myself.

Random is random. I know it sounds like a cop-out but it is the truth. That said, I am having the same issue with my Witch Doctor - in the same area and in the same act. I have been ever-so-slowly making my way through. I can survive well enough, but I don't do enough damage. The way I see it is I have 2 options to get out of this rut. I can keep farming (perhaps I need to go back to act 1? I haven't tried that yet), or I can use the auction house. If you're a purist then your only real option is to keep farming and hoping for some upgrades. But if you need an immediate fix, you should really use the auction house.

It is easy to make money on the AH too so don't just vendor/salvage all of your gear (if that is what you have been doing) take the stuff you don't want or need and try selling it on the AH for a reasonable price. You may have to do some very minor research but it isn't intimidating in the least. Anyway, I hope some of this helps. Good luck!

@Zirilius: So effectively I have to triple my DPS then, eh? That's much easier said then done but in any case thanks for the guidelines. Now to actually get a good weapon...

@Crono: I went back to Act 1 but quickly returned to Act 2 since the gold/exp drop is a lot less (Gold drops float around 100 in Act 1 and Act they're around 250). The only place that seems reasonable to farm is the oasis area. Anything after that is a bit too intense. But yeah the randomness is the greatest strength and weakness of the game. I just feel like it's a little too out of balance. I shouldn't be even seeing these lvl 45 items but it seems they're the only ones that are appearing. As for the AH, well, no one seems to be buying my dirt cheap stuff.

@Panpipe: @eroticfishcake: Well, we're talking about getting "bad" drops in Hell. They're not really that bad (maybe a few levels below the appropriate character level), but you're not really supposed to always get top notch stuff. Just the fact that you're getting 55+ loot at all makes it seem like everything is where it should be. I was just saying that it seems bad because of being overlevelled. Sure you might have some bad luck with stats, but noone's running around with optimized gear at that point.

If you're struggling it's less likely that it's about loot (although getting better loot always helps) and more likely because you're getting to the point where the game is starting to funnel you down the narrow path of viable builds etc.

If you are having trouble try changing out some of your skills. If you have any skills or passives with any healing properties give them a try. I was having a REALLY hard time on hell at first but after working on my build a bit it is a LOT easier.

@Ares42: No I understand what you mean. I wasn't expecting super rare items to be falling from the sky at this stage but I just can't find anything reasonably good. I've been using the same build since Act 1 (albeit some slight tweaking) which has worked fine for the most part until the Elites that is. It's just that my DPS has been around the same for the past 10+ hours and none of the gear dropped has brought it any higher. Not to mention that most of the loot has odd properties to it (STR and INT buffs on the same items? Who's that even for?). I dunno, it just seems like bad tweaking. I don't remember having too much difficulty with Diablo 1 or 2 when it comes to this issue.

@eroticfishcake: Don't forget that Strength/Intelligence/Dexterity help ALL characters. Strength + Int would be perfect for casters or a barb. Maybe part of your problem is that you're ignoring strength even though 10 strength = 10 armor = 10 intelligence = 1 all resist when it comes to defence.

The drops are typically pretty bad. Inferno A1 dropped a LOT of lvl 55-58 gear for me, A2 I'm finally seeing some level appropriate stuff, enough to have a couple upgrades, but you still need the AH now and then to fill in holes. Playing with more people seems to up your item drop tier, so that can help too.

Go to the AH and look for a weapon with the stats you like at a reasonable price. Weapon DPS is the single most important stat for your damage for every class, and you can easily double your tooltip DPS (or more) with a cheap AH upgrade, and that will make things die way way faster, making the trudge to inferno less difficult / monotonous

@Ares42 said:

@eroticfishcake said:

So essentially I'm slogging through Act 2 on Hell diff

That's your problem, you're highly overlevelled compared to your progression.

What does that matter?

Hell difficulty is for levels 50-60. eroticfishcake is clearly struggling despite having a higher level than perhaps he's supposed to. The problem is that the drop rates are adjusted for the existence of the Auction House, and that drops are always below your current level.

@eroticfishcake said:

@Zirilius: So effectively I have to triple my DPS then, eh? That's much easier said then done but in any case thanks for the guidelines. Now to actually get a good weapon...

I wouldn't necessarily say triple your DPS but at least double it. I will say a lot of people overlook single or double stat items that have sockets available to them. Just because the initial stats aren't that great doesn't mean they are garbage. I have a yellow that only increases my Dexterity but has 3 sockets in it. After two square emeralds and an Amethyst is was about 3x better than the previous yellow I had.

If you feel you are surviving okay I'd first focus on your Primary stat even if it means a hit in Vitality. After your Primary stat and vitality get tot he point you feel comfortable at start focusing on resistances. Good luck to you, it's a pain for sure.

@Turambar said:

@Panpipe said:
Areas have specific level ranges for drops. Finding equipment above your level is very possible depending on where you are, at what level.

I assume that a given mob can't drop an item that is higher level than itself?

@Turambar said:

@Panpipe said:
Areas have specific level ranges for drops. Finding equipment above your level is very possible depending on where you are, at what level.

I assume that a given mob can't drop an item that is higher level than itself?

Act 2 is hard at any difficulty. you haven't gotten the items you need yet and act 1 is kinda handholdy. The auction house is your best bet. You can find improvements at your level for cheap if you use the auction house right. first you need to limit the item level to the highest you can equip on your character for each item class. Then you need to set a cost limit for buyout that you can afford. Then look for stats that will increase your dps, or whatever you need for the item. Then you can sort the items based off of lowest cost. I have made huge improvements in my characters abilities by spending as little as 6000 gold. The game was designed around using the AH and the auction house is really well made for finding exactly what you want so use it. When I reached sixty I doubled my DPS for 40000 gold.

@Zirilius: Yeah I sockets are pretty important as well. Problem was that I could only craft up to Perfect Square Gems which are pricey enough and they can only do so much. More importantly though I managed to pick an off-hand item from auction house for 1000 which has helped me somewhat. That plus I managed to find a lvl 60 wand (and grinded to 60) so things are looking a lot better considering how I'm in act 3 with Nephalam Valour stacked to five. I'm still pretty annoyed at the tediousness of it all though. In any case thanks to everyone in the thread. I think I know better now.

Also my DPS is from 3,400 to 12320.20 so I done better and quadrupled it instead. It's crazy how dependant it is. :S In any case...

@eroticfishcake said:

Is anyone else suffering from a bad case of terrible drops in Hell Mode? I've got a Wizard at lvl 58 but most of the gear seems really, really bad. Most of the stuff I'm getting is geared around the mid-40s and when I even do get a lvl 55+ it's completely useless to me. I'm sitting on top 25,000 HP with 3,400 DAM and yeah I know it's pretty low but I can't get it any higher considering how bad the loot I'm getting from Elites and Champions (which, mind you are taking a lot of effort to kill for so little gain.)

So essentially I'm slogging through Act 2 on Hell diff. and it's beginning to annoy me. So any advice?

Jesus 3400 damage? I'm at 7k with a 56 wizard. Use the AH...seriously...also use Familar and Magic Wep.

Buy a new Wep. and Respec is my advice.

@Subject2Change: Yeah I wasn't getting any good drops at all but no worries. I managed to work things out so it's at 12320.20 now. Hurrah!

Yeah, I'm at the same point and ran into the same problem. Had avoided the AH for the most part, but I didn't find any upgrades in game from about level 47 on. Combination of bad level selection on goods and everything quality being not for my character. Managed to get past the Butcher but finally gave in and have been doing AH hunting ever since.

@eroticfishcake: Don't forget that Strength/Intelligence/Dexterity help ALL characters. Strength + Int would be perfect for casters or a barb. Maybe part of your problem is that you're ignoring strength even though 10 strength = 10 armor = 10 intelligence = 1 all resist when it comes to defence.

@eroticfishcake said:

@Zirilius: Yeah I sockets are pretty important as well. Problem was that I could only craft up to Perfect Square Gems which are pricey enough and they can only do so much. More importantly though I managed to pick an off-hand item from auction house for 1000 which has helped me somewhat. That plus I managed to find a lvl 60 wand (and grinded to 60) so things are looking a lot better considering how I'm in act 3 with Nephalam Valour stacked to five. I'm still pretty annoyed at the tediousness of it all though. In any case thanks to everyone in the thread. I think I know better now.

Also my DPS is from 3,400 to 12320.20 so I done better and quadrupled it instead. It's crazy how dependant it is. :S In any case...

Glad to hear your up to par now. It is a tedious endeavor that is for sure. I'm fortunate enough to have some lvl 60 friends who keep an eye out for gear for me.

@wmaustin55 said:

@Panpipe

@eroticfishcake: Don't forget that Strength/Intelligence/Dexterity help ALL characters. Strength + Int would be perfect for casters or a barb. Maybe part of your problem is that you're ignoring strength even though 10 strength = 10 armor = 10 intelligence = 1 all resist when it comes to defence.

I am just now starting to figure this out. Was having a fucking terrible time just searching Str/vit/resist all. Now that I know what all stats do and that they do ALL help me, it's starting to make Inferno sound like a doable thing. I was making it too hard on myself. Le sigh

Yeah at the very least I think it's a good idea to not discount a particular stat. Generally speaking on my DH if a piece doesn't have dex and vitality I'm not interested, but if it's got other stuff as well so much the better.

@wmaustin55 said:

@Panpipe

@eroticfishcake: Don't forget that Strength/Intelligence/Dexterity help ALL characters. Strength + Int would be perfect for casters or a barb. Maybe part of your problem is that you're ignoring strength even though 10 strength = 10 armor = 10 intelligence = 1 all resist when it comes to defence.

I am just now starting to figure this out. Was having a fucking terrible time just searching Str/vit/resist all. Now that I know what all stats do and that they do ALL help me, it's starting to make Inferno sound like a doable thing. I was making it too hard on myself. Le sigh

Well, as a Barb (which I assume you are), Vitality just outshines everything once you have some decent resist. Increasing health, armor and healing done all in one stat makes it just insanely much better than just resist or just dodge from int and dex.

There's a huge loot disparity between level 49 and level 50. DPS values on weapons especially about double. So it's a major problem that the early acts throw in some lowball items.

I actually looted a level 37 rare in Act I hell amidst a really bad night of drops last night. Though the OPs problem is solved, I've found that playing public games is a pretty good way to progress if you're not feeling great about your gear.

@eroticfishcake Here's a tip: for wizards, you want a 2-hander with big damage. I'm using a mace. If you'd like me to find the detailed explanation, I will, but just look in the auction house for a 2 handed weapon with INT (and whatever else you want, really) but make sure that you look at the actual damage below the DPS number. I think my mace is something like 308-410 with a 1 second rate of attack. For wizards, it seems like having bigger base damage numbers and a slower attack speed (on the weapon) is worth it.

You can also pick up some nice rings. Look for "ring of agony" in your level range. You can't search for +damage (it's broken) so search with a low-ish buyout and just wade through until you find a few rings with +x-y damage (one of mine is +8-16 with a socket). Stick a nice Topaz in it and you have (probably) a good boost in DPS.

@murisan: Yeah I had actually managed to find some good 2-handed crossbows which got me through a few areas in the game (as odd as it looks.) I got had a ring and a pair of gloves of which added another 30%+ attack speed which was nice even if it made me a little fragile but then again I've got the Templar with me for a reason. Now that you mention it though it's surprisingly difficult to find a weapon with sockets in them. Anyway, I'm halfway through Act 1 on Inferno Mode so I guess I'm doing something right (although some of those Elites are a right shower of bastards.)