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There are a lot of challenges in Diablo III, and while some players have been busy testing their mettle against other players in Brawling or earning every last achievement they can muster, others have heeded the call to push their characters to new heights and achieve Paragon 100. But some especially passionate players have gone above and beyond striving to reach Paragon level 100 not once, but on all five character classes on every available gender and class combination to achieve the presigious "Paragon 1000."
In this Player Spotlight, we catch up with Glow, who was one of the first players in the world to hit the elusive "Paragon 1000." He was nice enough to take the time to answer some questions about the experience and the challenges he faced on his personal quest for glory.
Q. What name do you go by in-game, and what country are you from?
I go by Glow. I'm from the United States.
Q. Which hero class was your first Paragon level 100 character?
My first hero class was a female Monk.
Q. What made you decide to go for Paragon 1000?
Personal interest and the enjoyment of reaching max levels on everything available. I did the same thing in Diablo II with eight 99s, completely legit. Only a few screenshots remain from that however. Also, I was in a race with another player, but it was a hidden race.
Q. Which hero of yours do you consider your “main?”
Female monk.
Q. How long did it take you, on average, to level your characters to Paragon 100?
150 hours on average. MP0-MP1 speed runs using the Act 3 "Roaha Route". Barbarians were 75-80 hours due to spider farming. Also, these hours are clocked in before the "serious boost exp patch" (patch 1.0.8) which was released just days after I finished.
Q. When did you hit Paragon 100 on your 10th Diablo III character, and what class and gender were they?
May 5th, but it may have been May 6th. I'd like to go with May 5th! Male Demon Hunter.
Q. What did you do to celebrate this impressive feat?
Break! Haha. (It's quite possible had a few drinks.. Nothing that amazing unfortunately. I was 100% out of the stress circle, and was relaxed!)
Q. Did you prefer to level solo, with friends, or in public games?
I did a LOT of my leveling solo, then towards the end I had to party up with people to give me strength. :) Towards the end, I'd say 2 characters in total was mostly circulated from group play.
Q. What was your most memorable moment of this entire experience?
Achieving something no one has achieved yet!
Q. What was your favorite Legendary item or set piece you found during your journey?
Chantodo's Will. It was my highest seller for 2 billion gold that I found it on MP10 in Act 3, Arreat Crater 2, on a white monster. I also have an Oculus I picked up for a bargain... it is one of the favorite items I have.
Q. What about your favorite non-Legendary item?
Mainly all those 666's, and 777's lol.
Q. What else did you do to help pass the time and encourage you on your journey to Paragon 1000? Did you watch TV shows, movies, listen to music, or watch livestreamers?
Music, music, music. And some Ventrilo. :)
Q. What was your favorite change to Diablo III since it launched?
ID ALL (patch 1.0.8)!
Q. What are you most looking forward to in the future of Diablo III?
Getting it for the Xbox 360. :) I hope one day Diablo decides to think about an MMO. Starcraft as well! I'd probably prefer a Starcraft MMO more, but that's just me. :)
Q. What tips do you have for players looking to achieve Paragon 100 (or 1000) in Diablo III?
Be persistent! Don't lose hope!
Q. Any closing thoughts?
I'm glad to have accomplished such an amazing task!
Curious to find out more about Glow’s journey? Make sure to check out his Diablo III videos on his YouTube channel!
Are you working towards Paragon level 100 on you first character or are you perhaps finishing up "Paragon 1000" on your tenth Hero? Let us know about your experiences and personal quests within Diablo III in the comments below!
Feel free to join the conversation on this update over on the forums.
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When we initially designed and implemented the auction houses, the driving goal was to provide a convenient and secure system for trades. But as we've mentioned on different occasions, it became increasingly clear that despite the benefits of the AH system and the fact that many players around the world use it, it ultimately undermines Diablo's core game play: kill monsters to get cool loot. With that in mind, we want to let everyone know that we've decided to remove the gold and real-money auction house system from Diablo III.
We feel that this move along with the Loot 2.0 system being developed concurrently with Reaper of Souls™ will result in a much more rewarding game experience for our players.
We're working out the details of how the auction house system will be shut down, but we wanted to share the news as soon as we made the decision in order to give everyone as much advance notice as possible. Please note that the shutdown will occur on March 18, 2014. We will keep everyone informed as we work through this process.
Josh Mosqueira and I wanted to provide everyone with a little more information behind this decision, so please have a look at the video, and stay tuned to this site for further updates in the months ahead.
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Earlier this year, we donated proceeds from auction house sales to Extra Life and Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. To determine how best to allocate these funds and make sure they would have the most impact, Extra Life sat down with the Diablo III development team and, together, came up with The Diablo Extra Life Challenge.
To learn more about this unique initative and how you can get involved, check out this post by Jeromy Adams, founder and director of Extra Life:
The Diablo Extra Life Challenge
Have you ever seen eight people almost faint at the same time? That's what happened earlier this year as we were ending a relatively normal week at Extra Life HQ. That's because an unexpected call came in from our friends on the Diablo III team at Blizzard Entertainment. They were excited to let us know that Blizzard was making a gift to Extra Life. A great… big… giant… gift.
A donation in the amount of $120,000 was on its way from the makers of Diablo, WoW, and StarCraft, with a directive that funds be used to make the most impact. Together with the Diablo III team, we put our heads together, and decided that the best way to amplify this donation is to turn these funds over to the Extra Life community and empower you to bring this money home to your local Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals with Extra Life.
So without further ado, we bring you Diablo's Extra Life Challenge!
We've broken the money up into three game-changing chunks that — through your personal donations and those of other Extra Lifers in your area — you can help unlock for your hospital. On Sunday, November 3rd at 9 a.m. Eastern, we'll pull a real-time report from the Extra Life servers. We'll include all donations collected on Extra-Life.org or mailed in (mailed donations must be received before Thursday, October 31 to be counted towards the Challenge), and award the following amounts for their respective categories:
Top Overall Extra Life Fundraising - $60,000
These funds will be unlocked for the hospital whose gamers and sponsors raise the highest dollar amount overall. Top dollar, end of story.
Highest Per Capita Extra Life Fundraising - $40,000
There's no doubt that big cities have a population advantage, so we’ll divide the Extra Life dollars that you raise by your local population. The highest Extra Life funds raised per capita unlocks an extra $40,000 for your hospital!
With many local Extra Life efforts just getting started, this is a chance to make a huge leap forward for your hospital with an extra $20,000.
The hospital whose 2013 Extra Life fundraising total is the most improved (percentage-wise) over their 2012 total, will receive this one! But, we factored in that small gaming markets improving slightly can mean huge percentage gains. So the baseline for this award is $5,000. This means that if your hospital raised less than that in 2012, $5,000 will be treated as the 2012 number and the 2013 total will be compared to that amount.
The countdown to November 2nd is on! Each donation you raise could be the one that unlocks even more support for your local hospital. And with these categories, any hospital in any town can win! Provided you dig in these next two months and bring your absolute best fundraising game. And encourage others to get involved: remember, the sure-fire way to raise more money is to recruit more Extra Lifers for your hospital!
We'll announce winning hospitals on the official Extra Life Twitch stream (coming soon).
Weekly updates will be posted here on the Extra Life blog with the latest leaderboards for Diablo's Extra Life Challenge! Good luck and thank you for all you do For The Kids!
For more information about Extra Life 2013, be sure to visit their official site. To register for this year's event, click here. To donate, click here.
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"To be Horadrim is to put the lives of others before your own."
Earlier this year, we offered players a first glimpse at the upcoming Diablo III: Book of Tyrael, and today we're thrilled to announce the next novel in the Diablo series, Storm of Light!
Written by Nate Kenyon, author of The Order, Storm of Light is a bridge between the events of Diablo III and the story that is to come in its first expansion, Reaper of Souls. This new novel features Jacob and Shanar from the Sword of Justice comic series and is now available for pre-order at Simon and Schuster.
Read on to find out what momentous events lie ahead in Diablo III: Storm of Light!
The High Heavens are healing after the fall of the Prime Evil. The Angiris Council has recovered the Black Soulstone and now stands vigil over the cursed artifact deep within the glimmering Silver City.
Amid these momentous events, Tyrael struggles with his position as the new Aspect of Wisdom, feeling out of place as a mortal among his angelic brethren and doubting his ability to fully embody his role. As he searches within himself and the Heavens for reassurance, he senses the Black Soulstone's grim influence on his home. Where harmony of light and sound once reigned, a mounting discord is threatening to shroud the realm in darkness. Imperius and the other archangels vehemently oppose moving or destroying the crystal, leading Tyrael to put Heaven's fate in the hands of humankind….
Drawing powerful humans to his side from the far ends of Sanctuary, Tyrael reforges the ancient Horadrim and charges the order with an impossible task: to steal the soulstone from the heart of Heaven. Among the champions entrusted with this burden are Jacob of Staalbreak, former avatar of Justice and guardian of the angelic blade El'druin; Shanar, a wizard with phenomenal powers; Mikulov, a lithe and reverent monk; Gynvir, a fearless and battle-hardened barbarian; and Zayl, a mysterious necromancer. With time and the forces of both good and evil against them, can these heroes unite as one and complete their perilous mission before the Heavens fall to ruin?
Be among the first to find out what happens to our heroes and pre-order your copy of Storm of Light at Simon and Schuster today.
If you're looking to get caught-up with all of the books that take place in the world of Diablo, we'd also recommend checking out this complete listing of the Diablo books in chronological order.
So get to reading, and prepare for the return of Tyrael and the new Horadrim!
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The forces of the Burning Hells march anew, as Diablo III invades console systems around the world.
Pick up a copy, rally your friends, and prepare for the fight of your lives—because with Diablo III on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, up to four players can work as a team and smite evil together on one big screen. Just add pizza and a frosty beverage, and that could be one hell of a party.