@gamefreak9: Secret something level, that's for sure.

@StarvingGamer: In d2 those cows dropped ALOT of loot, which makes me thing that blizz won't include it because it would encourage area farming instead of the whole game.

@Seppli: I give you... ACHIEVEMENTS!

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

@scarace360 said:

Question: Can you play on hard right at the start.

Just going back in time since I now have some hard numbers I can give you:

The Arachnid Horror is an Act I monster.

On Normal mode (your first playthrough) it will have 72-120 HP and do around 38 damage per hit.

On Inferno mode (your fourth playthrough) it will have 49,000-81,000 HP and do around 18,000 damage per hit.

@StarvingGamer said:

@Seppli: I give you... ACHIEVEMENTS!

You may want to spoiler tag that stuff.

Edit - Thanks.

@Adamsons: Hrm I tried but it didn't take, let me fix that. Fuck this editor.

@StarvingGamer said:

@Seppli: I give you... ACHIEVEMENTS!

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

Thx for that. Didn't spot any HC specific 'chievos in there. Guess it's all cosmetic stuff for the personal Banner and titles and such. Wonder if I'll ever be that into Diablo 3, that I'll brave it on Hardcore.

@Seppli said:

@StarvingGamer said:

@Seppli: I give you... ACHIEVEMENTS!

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

Thx for that. Didn't spot any HC specific 'chievos in there. Guess it's all cosmetic stuff for the personal Banner and titles and such. Wonder if I'll ever be that into Diablo 3, that I'll brave it on Hardcore.

Blizzard specifically mentioned HC achievements during a pannel on Blizzcon last year.

This doesn't look like a full list at all, there are no achievements here for beating bosses or the game.

@scarace360 said:

Question: Can you play on hard right at the start.

Just going back in time since I now have some hard numbers I can give you:

The Arachnid Horror is an Act I monster.

On Normal mode (your first playthrough) it will have 72-120 HP and do around 38 damage per hit.

On Inferno mode (your fourth playthrough) it will have 49,000-81,000 HP and do around 18,000 damage per hit.

@Panpipe said:

@StarvingGamer

@scarace360 said:

Question: Can you play on hard right at the start.

Just going back in time since I now have some hard numbers I can give you:

The Arachnid Horror is an Act I monster.

On Normal mode (your first playthrough) it will have 72-120 HP and do around 38 damage per hit.

On Inferno mode (your fourth playthrough) it will have 49,000-81,000 HP and do around 18,000 damage per hit.

Holy shit. Where did you get these numbers?

lol... omg! I imagine that means there will not be ANY quick killing in inferno?

I know that Inferno is meant to have a flat difficulty curve so that players can grind any part of the story for loot, rather than just end game bosses. Smart choice. So it's not like Act 3 bosses will have double the health of that arachnid boss at least.

@Panpipe said:

I know that Inferno is meant to have a flat difficulty curve so that players can grind any part of the story for loot, rather than just end game bosses. Smart choice. So it's not like Act 3 bosses will have double the health of that arachnid boss at least.

that was the plan but its no longer the case, apparently it scales dramatically now.

@Gargantuan said:

@jakob187 said:

Q: How awesomely broken are Barbarians going to be in this game...as they always have been?

A: Very awesomely broken.

Wasn't the Paladin and Sorcerer the best classes in D2?

I thought the Paladin was the WEAKEST class in D2... why do you think he was strong?

@gamefreak9 said:

@Panpipe said:

@StarvingGamer

@scarace360 said:

Question: Can you play on hard right at the start.

Just going back in time since I now have some hard numbers I can give you:

The Arachnid Horror is an Act I monster.

On Normal mode (your first playthrough) it will have 72-120 HP and do around 38 damage per hit.

On Inferno mode (your fourth playthrough) it will have 49,000-81,000 HP and do around 18,000 damage per hit.

Holy shit. Where did you get these numbers?

lol... omg! I imagine that means there will not be ANY quick killing in inferno?

From a preview of the iPad version of the official Brady Guide.

Are there healing spells in the game? If so which classes can heal and is it possible to spec as a healer?

@ajamafalous said:

@gamefreak9 said:

@Gargantuan said:

@jakob187 said:

Q: How awesomely broken are Barbarians going to be in this game...as they always have been?

A: Very awesomely broken.

Wasn't the Paladin and Sorcerer the best classes in D2?

I thought the Paladin was the WEAKEST class in D2... why do you think he was strong?

I realize you already got your answer, but Hammerdins were easily the most-played class in Diablo II.

then I probably didn't play enough, though Also in PVP that hammer was really easy to dodge... Sorc was the most played but for instance I thought AMazon owned Hammerdin's

@CJduke: there are self heals for all the chars (along with pots) iir, but it is impossible to spec a healing only class in fact it is really impossible to play a support role at all really

How does a newcomer to the series go about learning the lore? It seems interesting but I'm not sure if it's easy to get into.

@NekuSakuraba said:

How does a newcomer to the series go about learning the lore? It seems interesting but I'm not sure if it's easy to get into.

This short article by PC Gamer runs through the lore pretty quickly and tells you everything you need to know.

Protip:

For anyone dualwielding at the start of the game, the merchant just outside the gata sells magical rings, reload the game a few times untill you get the ring that adds dmg like the below:

Get a couple of these babies on a DW character and you will easily double your dps, making the everything die way way faster, not that initial areas are hard but these makle the going much speedier.

This is because the dmg increase is per weapon per ring with 2 weapons and 2 rings you are getting 8-16 extra dmg.

@Wallzii said:

@NekuSakuraba said:

How does a newcomer to the series go about learning the lore? It seems interesting but I'm not sure if it's easy to get into.

This short article by PC Gamer runs through the lore pretty quickly and tells you everything you need to know.

What happened to Duriel, Andariel, Azmodan and Belial? It says that Azmodan and Belial will return but said nothing of Duriel and Andariel.

What's the point of Demon Hunter.

@NekuSakuraba: They're dead.

@Mr_Skeleton: Keeping yourself out of reach and murdering fools with ranged attacks.

@CJduke: The closest you can get is probably Monk since they have the only dedicated way to heal allies but in really, everyone in Diablo is a DPS class plain and simple.

@Mr_Skeleton: Homing rockets! BLAKKABLAKKABLAMMM

If I'm looking to play as a tanky character in coop play, which hero would you recommend? The barbarian seems like the obvious choice but I never play the warrior class...

@Sweep: Yeah, you could pick a Barbarian and go all-in on damage mitigation if you wanted. Also Barbarians are the only class with a traditional Taunt but they don't unlock it until level 43.

Since there are no traditional aggro mechanics in D3, being Tanky is more about survivability and crowd-control. You want to be able to stay in your enemy's face and make it as hard as possible for them to get at your teammates. For this I'd personally recommend the Monk. Here's an example of a potential build you could use: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/monk#aWcfXQ!ZXU!ZZcZZc

Ideally for this you would want a fast 1h and a shield. With quick attacks you can alternate between your two generator skills more rapidly in order to A) generate more spirit and B) keep both the passive buff and debuff on 100% up-time when in combat. Tempest Rush is used for mobility, Cyclone Strike is your CC, and Monks have the unique advantage of the only dedicated group-heal in the game as well.

Throw in a few passives for survivability and you start having something you can work with.

Alternatively you could go all-in on CC and simply try to control the battlefield. A Frost-maiden sort of Wizard build would be good for that: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#ZRlYPf!aWf!bYZZZa

EDIT: For the sake of thoroughness, here's an example of a Tanky Barb: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/barbarian#beYVgk!beV!caZcYa

@Sweep said:

If I'm looking to play as a tanky character in coop play, which hero would you recommend? The barbarian seems like the obvious choice but I never play the warrior class...

In theory all classes can be made to be much more durable, there is also no real solid agro mechanics in D3 unlike MMOs either. From my experience in the beta there really is no point for anyone to be a tank when playing co-op, the difficulty scales but it does not llike double if there are 2 people instead of one, so for example 4 peopel would be just blowing through everything in split seconds on normal. Being a tank has really more to do with gear and skills, a monk can be as tanky as a barb etc. Especially since INT and STR provide equivalent base dmg reduction overall.

Just to put into perspective how incredible static dmg ring/amulets are for DW on normal, here are 2 screens one without rings, one with all 3 jewelry items equiped. The DPS boost is far, far, FAR greater then anything you will be able to get at those levels either vie Rare/legendary weapons or base stats. Both rings and amulet add 2-4 dmg and a 5% attack speed boost. Elites die in 1-2 seconds.

I'm a total Diablo newbie, so forgive this insanely dumb question. Is there a point to the melee attack? I'm playing a monk, and my first skill replaced it as my right click. I haven't found a way to get it back, but I'm thinking it's pretty damn useless.

Also how do weapons affect skills? As a monk I assume I want to be getting fist weapons as much as possible, but how big an effect do new weapons have if I'm not using the standard attack anyway?

@MikkaQ said:

I'm a total Diablo newbie, so forgive this insanely dumb question. Is there a point to the melee attack? I'm playing a monk, and my first skill replaced it as my right click. I haven't found a way to get it back, but I'm thinking it's pretty damn useless.

Also how do weapons affect skills? As a monk I assume I want to be getting fist weapons as much as possible, but how big an effect do new weapons have if I'm not using the standard attack anyway?

there's an option in the gameplay part of menu that allows you to see more details on the spells. Your base attack damage Defines your spell attack damage, in % terms, it becomes obvious once you enable this tooltip.

I've never touched a Diablo game before. As far as story goes, do I need to catch up on the other two or can I just jump right in?

@MikkaQ said:

I'm a total Diablo newbie, so forgive this insanely dumb question. Is there a point to the melee attack? I'm playing a monk, and my first skill replaced it as my right click. I haven't found a way to get it back, but I'm thinking it's pretty damn useless.

Also how do weapons affect skills? As a monk I assume I want to be getting fist weapons as much as possible, but how big an effect do new weapons have if I'm not using the standard attack anyway?

The default melee attack? No no point. At least not for Monk/Barb as their basic skill attacks generate spirit/rage, mage signature spells also cost 0. For other classes it's used if they run out of mana, but it will replace the skill automatically for those situations, so again there is no point for it to be on the bar.

All skills/ability dmg is based on your weapon dmg. So weapons always matter for all classes.

@Tennmuerti said:

@MikkaQ said:

I'm a total Diablo newbie, so forgive this insanely dumb question. Is there a point to the melee attack? I'm playing a monk, and my first skill replaced it as my right click. I haven't found a way to get it back, but I'm thinking it's pretty damn useless.

Also how do weapons affect skills? As a monk I assume I want to be getting fist weapons as much as possible, but how big an effect do new weapons have if I'm not using the standard attack anyway?

The default melee attack? No no point. At least not for Monk/Barb as their basic skill attacks generate spirit/rage, mage signature spells also cost 0. For other classes it's used if they run out of mana, but it will replace the skill automatically for those situations, so again there is no point for it to be on the bar.

All skills/ability dmg is based on your weapon dmg. So weapons always matter for all classes.

That's good to know, thanks. As a monk am I better off ditching my default "worn knuckles" for daggers I've been finding? I guess different weapon types when it comes to monk and barbarian are mostly aesthetic, since it's not like you use the melee.

@MikkaQ said:

@Tennmuerti said:

@MikkaQ said:

I'm a total Diablo newbie, so forgive this insanely dumb question. Is there a point to the melee attack? I'm playing a monk, and my first skill replaced it as my right click. I haven't found a way to get it back, but I'm thinking it's pretty damn useless.

Also how do weapons affect skills? As a monk I assume I want to be getting fist weapons as much as possible, but how big an effect do new weapons have if I'm not using the standard attack anyway?

The default melee attack? No no point. At least not for Monk/Barb as their basic skill attacks generate spirit/rage, mage signature spells also cost 0. For other classes it's used if they run out of mana, but it will replace the skill automatically for those situations, so again there is no point for it to be on the bar.

All skills/ability dmg is based on your weapon dmg. So weapons always matter for all classes.

That's good to know, thanks. As a monk am I better off ditching my default "worn knuckles" for daggers I've been finding? I guess different weapon types when it comes to monk and barbarian are mostly aesthetic, since it's not like you use the melee.

Depends on the stats, if the daggers are better stat wise then yes replace your fists. There are no penalties for using different types of weapons, the only difference is that some class specific gear like for example monk fists may have an enchant that will benefit that class (like say 1 spirit regen).

@Tennmuerti said:

@MikkaQ said:

@Tennmuerti said:

@MikkaQ said:

I'm a total Diablo newbie, so forgive this insanely dumb question. Is there a point to the melee attack? I'm playing a monk, and my first skill replaced it as my right click. I haven't found a way to get it back, but I'm thinking it's pretty damn useless.

Also how do weapons affect skills? As a monk I assume I want to be getting fist weapons as much as possible, but how big an effect do new weapons have if I'm not using the standard attack anyway?

The default melee attack? No no point. At least not for Monk/Barb as their basic skill attacks generate spirit/rage, mage signature spells also cost 0. For other classes it's used if they run out of mana, but it will replace the skill automatically for those situations, so again there is no point for it to be on the bar.

All skills/ability dmg is based on your weapon dmg. So weapons always matter for all classes.

That's good to know, thanks. As a monk am I better off ditching my default "worn knuckles" for daggers I've been finding? I guess different weapon types when it comes to monk and barbarian are mostly aesthetic, since it's not like you use the melee.

Depends on the stats, if the daggers are better stat wise then yes replace your fists. There are no penalties for using different types of weapons, the only difference is that some class specific gear like for example monk fists may have an enchant that will benefit that class (like say 1 spirit regen).

Okay that makes a lot of sense. Diablo seems pretty open-ended for character builds, I like being able to try different weapons. Equipped two daggers halfway through the early cathedral dungeon and now I'm just carving through everyone at breakneck pace. I haven't felt this giddy about combat in an RPG for a long time. I never played Diablo back in the day, but I did play a lot of Nox so this is bringing me back.

Still, I can't wait till I can get more powerful fist weapons, it just looks cooler when the Monk is punching demons into pulp.

@Warihay said:

I've never touched a Diablo game before. As far as story goes, do I need to catch up on the other two or can I just jump right in?

Here, this article isn't that long, and to me I feel like I got a good idea of the setup for Diablo III.

Why should I duel crossbow and not just go with crossbow/bow on my Demon Hunter?

Q: How do I sell stuff on the auction house?

Built a crap load of lvl 17 helmets, and none of them was all that great for my Demon Hunter. They're currently clogging up my stash. I'd love to throw 'em onto the market. Didn't quite see any way to put stuff up in-game.

@Mr_Skeleton said:

Why should I duel crossbow and not just go with crossbow/bow on my Demon Hunter?

Ontop of what StarvingGamer said - while 1-hand crossbows all have much higher RNG than the other ranged weapons, don't they all have higher DPS too? As far as I can tell, the handheld crossbows always have the highest DPS for ranged weapons in the same tier. Also - you can combine a snaring weapon with one that applies DoTs, and such things. Personally - I like using a 1-handed crossbow with a shield. 15-20% block chance and more protection are nothing to sneeze at, if you ever find yourself in a pickle.

@Seppli said:

Q: How do I sell stuff on the auction house?

Built a crap load of lvl 17 helmets, and none of them was all that great for my Demon Hunter. They're currently clogging up my stash. I'd love to throw 'em onto the market. Didn't quite see any way to put stuff up in-game.

The auction house is per account and you need to do it from the character/banner/achievements screen the one that gives you an overview of your entire account. So exit your current session.

Q: About the Gold situation. Is it plentiful? Are there crazy things to spend it on later in the game that I should be saving it for? Or should I do whatever with my gold and focus on looting from enemies I kill.

I'm playing as a monk, does anyone know if the weapons you're using affect the damage of your left mouse skill? It's a little weird how he punches even though he has weapons out, and only uses the weapons if you take off the skill. It would be nice to have some clarification on the difference between using just weapons vs. weapons + mouse skill.

Q: When buying an item in the auction house, where and how do I retreive it?

@Seppli said:

Q: When buying an item in the auction house, where and how do I retreive it?

Figured it out. There's a 'Send to Stash' option in the 'Completed' tab of the auction house. Cool cool cool.

@ADAMWD said:

I'm playing as a monk, does anyone know if the weapons you're using affect the damage of your left mouse skill? It's a little weird how he punches even though he has weapons out, and only uses the weapons if you take off the skill. It would be nice to have some clarification on the difference between using just weapons vs. weapons + mouse skill.

yes it does affect it. It is weird but there's no other way to scale damage to skills, you could make him only equip fist weapons but that's too restrictive.

@SpartyOn said:

Q: About the Gold situation. Is it plentiful? Are there crazy things to spend it on later in the game that I should be saving it for? Or should I do whatever with my gold and focus on looting from enemies I kill.

One of the biggest things to spend money on is your artisans and leveling them up. Leveling them up will let them learn better recipes so you can use them to make better gear and is better than buying things from random merchants.

As for how plentiful gold is in the game, I can't say, but since I know people were hitting the max level for the blacksmith during the beta, which capped out at player level 13 and blacksmith level.. something not max, and the cost of the blacksmith was in the tens of thousands of gold so I can't imagine money is that hard to come by so long as you don't spend it constantly on totally random things that you don't even need or are wasting it on the AH buying overpriced stuff.

Edit: The total cost of leveling the blacksmith though is in the hundreds of thousands of gold though - and, also, gold is shared across all of your characters.

I know the secret cow level stuff is bind on pickup but is it transferable between characters? And do I need to farm only once or do I have to do it in every difficulty?

@Warihay said:

I've never touched a Diablo game before. As far as story goes, do I need to catch up on the other two or can I just jump right in?

Nope, all you need to know is that Deckard Cain is a character.

Q: Elemental Weapon Damage - what does it really do?

So I've noticed Cold Damage weapons snare, Lightning Damage weapons stun, and... really... what does fire, arcane, poison and holy damage do really? I've decided to go Holy damage with my latest weapon purchase, and now enemies die and puff away in a spray of sparkly diamond dust. Don't ask me what exactly Holy damage really does, but I'd really like to know.

I googled it a bit, and I came back none the wiser. Anybody got a clue, or a link to a decent wiki on the topic?