It's Dangerous to Go Alone

“That bauble around your neck—was it bought with gold or iron?” Hardcore mode. Sounds intimidating. It’s for “hardcore players,” which as any erstwhile WoW forum reader knows, is the opposite of “casual players.” Which is what, statistically speaking, you probably are. This post is about why, name notwithstanding, Hardcore mode is for you. Paradoxically, it can be not only the most intense way to play, but also the most casual way to play. My goal in writing this is for you (whoever you are) to try it. Nothing more. Next […]

There isn’t much personalization in Diablo III, but your character can display customizable banner on the menu screen and in-game. Since the banner interface is unwieldy when it comes to matching up locked designs with achievements (it tells you the name of the achievement needed to unlock any design, but doesn’t link you to it or give any other information), this guide covers the information behind all banner shapes, patterns, sigils, and accents. It presents each row of banner shapes, patterns, sigils, and accents as they appear in-game, with a […]

Another collaborative essay by Perculia and Hamlet (see About for more info), this time not about WoW. Diablo has always had a formula: elevating the mundane task of clicking and looting into something inexplicably enthralling. Everyone who’s played any Diablo game understands it, other games have tried to replicate it, but nobody ever seems to know exactly what the secret ingredient is. Diablo 3 looked as though it was going to remain safely in this well-charted territory. But over the hours we’ve spent playing in the first four weeks since the game’s release, one element we […]

In my last post, I mentioned that I might go more in-depth on some Diablo III theorycraft topics. Here’s the first. I’ll review the math surrounding mitigation in Diablo III and discuss what I think is the most helpful way of keeping track of it for everyday purposes. I also made a simple tool for doing any of the computations discussed here for any stat values; it’s linked below but I’ll also put it here so it’s easy to find: D3-mitigation. The Mitigation Formula Armor in D3 reduces all incoming damage by […]

This post has nothing to do with theorycrafting. It will instead cover Armor Dyes found in Diablo III, including what difficulty level they are first available in, item costs, vendors, and related achievements. General Info There are 20 dyes available, not counting two reusable dyes from the Collector’s Edition. Dyes are purely cosmetic items and will recolor a player’s armor. Each level of difficulty unlocks several new dyes. Dyes available from easier tiers are still available for their cheap prices in later tiers. Each in-game dye can be used only once. […]

Now that I understand D3 theorycraft a bit better, I’m going to try to boil down a few useful things that players might want to know to have a sense of how things work. This is a basic summary that should get most people going on picking sensible gear; anyone who wants more detailed info or formulas can ask me or look them up in various places. Really short version Use the weapon with the highest listed DPS (big number in the tooltip). Value other items for offensive power simply […]

Spoiler Alert – This post is going to be discussing various aspects Cataclysm using information gleaned from the beta and PTR. If you’re okay reading about what’s coming down the pipe soon, continue. Credit goes to the fantastic blog Righteous Orbs for the first portion of my blog title. Despite the announcement this week from MMO-Champion that the release date for Cataclysm is now going to be in mid-December, it continues to lumber towards us, tantalizing many of us with the promise that someday soon, we’ll all get a chance soon to experience an apocalypse […]