Got stuck when i got up to Belial. Kept getting killed in the first few seconds. So i went on a bit of a MF journey that definitely didn't get anywhere fast. Looking to start getting my resistances and damage up so i can get into A3. Any advice appreciated. Most will have to come from trying to sell off the stuff i have already. Have some stuff up for sale that should get me around 10-30mil to help out if I'm lucky.

Build is on my profile.

Any Wizard/Barbarian suggestions welcome too! :)

For you DH, it looks like you're already pretty much kitted out to be able to handle a lot of Act 3, though you might want to look into getting a XBow with a socket +critical hit damage so you can boost your crit damage with an emerald. I don't think you'll have to do much better than your current equipment.

The easiest way to get through Belial for a DH is to get someone else to kill him. :) There are many on these forums that will be happy to do so for free. If you're going to try to solo him, you absolutely need to be running Smoke Screen, because it's the only way to dodge his poison breath attack. You definitely need to go defensive with a lot of patience to have a chance against his giant monster form with Preparation and +Max Discipline equipment. Sharpshooter can be useful as a passive since you spend a lot of the battle simply dodging his attacks which lets your crit chance bonus build.

I had a lot of trouble finding a good combination to get through both his minions and his giant monster form, because going defensive against the minions can make life difficult. There's actually enough time between his forms to swap one or two skills, though you lose your NV stacks doing so. Eventually I just had someone on the forum come and kill him for me while I dodged his attacks.

Now that i think about it, i had upgraded a few pieces since i last tried to get through Belial. I've been working on Leveling my Barb and Wiz for quite a bit lately.

CHC is quite a bit better now, as i think i had about 10-15% or so at the time. SScreen is one i hadn't started using until very recently when i stopped using SShooter. I do know i was using a Crit Damage +socket at the time, but the actual weapon is long gone so not sure what it was DPS wise. Definitely Looking into a Bow/Xbow with Crit and socket (DW Hand xbows?), just hard to find a decent one in my price range. I think I'll need to reinvest in some Crit Damage items that allow me to keep my Crit chance as it is or (always hopefully) better. That and an AR boost might be helpful.

What would you suggest swapping in favor of SShooter? Hard to make a decision on it.

You know, i seriously never thought about trying to find someone to come in a kill him for me. I might just have to do that! :)
After i try a few times after i tweak my gear and skills of course :)

So now i have a decent idea on my chances in A3, how much bigger do i need to go for A4?

Posted by Stukthrtl at 10/11/2012 10:49 AM

Now that i think about it, i had upgraded a few pieces since i last tried to get through Belial. I've been working on Leveling my Barb and Wiz for quite a bit lately.

CHC is quite a bit better now, as i think i had about 10-15% or so at the time. SScreen is one i hadn't started using until very recently when i stopped using SShooter. I do know i was using a Crit Damage +socket at the time, but the actual weapon is long gone so not sure what it was DPS wise. Definitely Looking into a Bow/Xbow with Crit and socket (DW Hand xbows?), just hard to find a decent one in my price range. I think I'll need to reinvest in some Crit Damage items that allow me to keep my Crit chance as it is or (always hopefully) better. That and an AR boost might be helpful.

What would you suggest swapping in favor of SShooter? Hard to make a decision on it.

You know, i seriously never thought about trying to find someone to come in a kill him for me. I might just have to do that! :)
After i try a few times after i tweak my gear and skills of course :)

So now i have a decent idea on my chances in A3, how much bigger do i need to go for A4?

I just switched from Sharpshooter to Archery because I switched from a hand crossbow to a two handed bow. Just about the same amount of DPS, but not a lot of crit chance anymore, obviously haha.

I've always used Archery and almost always used SShooter. Since my CHC is up to 32%, i think the added 10% might be worth it and go with Dual 1H Xbows for 42% CHC and i can stack a bunch of CHD.

Does anyone know what the max Crit Chance is limited to?

The max CC is 100%. Realistically, it's impossible to break 70% unbuffed (right now). For damage purposes, you generally want to increase CC when your CD is more than 10x your CC value and increase CD when it is less. For example:

1) 20% CC, 300% CD: guy needs to increase CC

2) 40% CC, 200% CD: guy needs to increase CD

For most classes, crit chance benefits in other ways besides damage (proc for hurricanes, stuns, tornadoes), so it's still better to err on the side of CC, but you do want to be mindful of CD. High crit damage will not only show up nicely on your stat sheet, but will also allow you to mow down mobs (through high damage spikes resulting in 1 or 2 shots).

I'm a dual wield 1H Xbow DH, but I've been building that way pretty much from the start. Given your investment in your quiver, it might be economically efficient to stack with 2H weapons.

In my opinion, CC and CD vary based on the attack speed you have. For quick weapons, CD is important with a good base CC, for slow weapons, CC is going to be more important. You need a good amount of CC and CD for both, but the ratio is different for each weapon. In-game dps display is a poor summary of damage potential when comparing two weapons of dramatically different speed and CD.

Overall, I think two perfect 1H XBows will probably do slightly more damage than a perfect Bow/Quick (and XBow/Quiver), but with proper balance of Dex, base damage, aps, CC and CD they'll all kill at pretty much the same rate. You'll certainly proc more often with a pair of 1H XBows, but each individual bolt will be doing noticeably less damage than their 2H counterparts (and hence the different needs of CC/CD).

Posted by Stukthrtl at 10/11/2012 10:49 AM

You know, i seriously never thought about trying to find someone to come in a kill him for me. I might just have to do that! :)
After i try a few times after i tweak my gear and skills of course :)

Hit me up in game and I will help get you through, if you are interested.

Will do for sure. I'll add you tonight and hit you up here this weekend. thanks!

Picked up a Manticore for 11.5m on a bid i didnt think if i would win. Seems like a decent deal.

1210 dps
102 str
251 Int
10% IAS
78% CHD
Empty socket

hope to try it out tonight

Finally got myself into act3. Actually defeated Belial solo! Of course it took 3 tries and i died at the same time he did, A win nonetheless!!

Not dying ever few minutes is nice. I definitely need more work to be more comfortable, but i think i do somewhat decently now compared to before. Of course i hate when a Reflects Damage pack comes around and i don't notice that affix.. lmao. Up to Gohm now and i die with the quickness. But i knew i would. Need to see where i need to focus my gear changes. What gear do you guys think is lacking the most?

Beat diablo tonight. Although on MP0. At least i made it :)

Now to see about finding some set items so i can see about running with the guys here without being a pain in the a@@ lol

Posted by Stukthrtl at 10/25/2012 08:55 PM

Beat diablo tonight. Although on MP0. At least i made it :)

Now to see about finding some set items so i can see about running with the guys here without being a pain in the a@@ lol

congrats!