Diablo 3 Wizard - Nightmare Notes on Bastion Keep and Heaven

I've seen statements that you should be able to end Nightmare Level at level 50, but I think this is true ONLY if you're using a toon that's very well geared (and it's more likely on Barbarian or Monk simply because they're the toughest characters.  Wizards have about all the durability of wet tissue paper.)

At Nightmare level in Diablo 3, wizards are very crunchy targets and apparently number one on the diet of every bad guy out there.  After surviving the interior keep, I was fairly certain that I could handle the battlefields -- they hadn't been THAT much more difficult in Normal mode, and by now I was level 49.  Just charge in, throw the Templar at them, and it'd be great.

Boy, was that the wrong assumption. 

I found that I needed to upgrade my gear (via auction house) AND the Templar's gear to at least level 45 to get through there without dying every two minutes -- instead, I died every three minutes.  Switching to Frost Build also helped.  After trying all three followers, I found that the Scoundrel seemed to work better for a lot of the battlements and the Enchantress worked better in the battlefields.  However, once we got to the "heart of sin" part of the quest, the Enchantress proved less than successful and the Templar turned out to be a better choice. 

The Wizard in Diablo 3: Bastion Keep, Nightmare Level

Having zapped and fried my way through Caldeum, it was on to the Zoltun Kulle quests and Bastion Keep.  I don't know about you, but I found Kulle annoying the first time through.  The second time I had to do this, I got him started talking... and left.  The Escape key works, too.

Unless you've got really good gear, it's very hard to take down Belial before level 45.  I used Archon and Teleport with fractured images, had the Scoundrel out as my companion (highest DPS), and did a lot of dodging and running.  I had tried it with Diamond Skin, but that didn't hold up, so I switched to ice armor and teleport.  Of course (as is typical), I thought I was relatively indestructible after that and went to the Bastion Keep... where I promptly fell over dead on the first set of monsters.

I'm blaming it on the cold.

Surviving Caldeum at Nighmare Level with the Wizard (part 1).

It's all Fun and Games until you hit Nightmare Level

It isn't easy being green.  Or Arcane.  Or Frost, for that matter.   The first thing I found out that was once I hit the Nightmare level, Azumi folded like a cheap suit everytime ANYTHING came close to him.  I got through the first few quests with only a death or two, but after I hit the Cathedral, things changed.  I adjusted my build a bit more, and downed Magda.  I was feeling really confident when, as level 38, I set out for Caldeum.  I was confident with my play, confident in my gear, and ... just confident.

And once more, Azumi fell over dead within the first few mobs as soon as we hit Stinging Sands.  After some tries (and a lot of repair bills), I came up with a reasonable strategy.

Diablo 3: It's all Fun and Games until you hit Nightmare Level

The title pretty much says it all.  I've been leveling one of each type of character (yes, I'm an altaholic) but given the limited amount of space in the stash, I'm now only leveling two characters.  The others are acting as extra storage space at the moment -- because you often find a piece of gear that would be Just Perfect for another class when you get around to that.  Right now, my Barbarian's level 44 and my Wizard is level 37 and both are in the Stinging Winds area.

I think my Wizard is plotting to have me eaten by a grue.

With equipment donated by his good friend (my Barbarian, who is level 45 and stuffs all the mage-y junk in the Stash chest), my mage blasted through the Normal levels and splatted Diablo to bits as he hit level 30.  The build I chose was effective but not perhaps the best, using Frost Nova (ice snap), hydra (Arcane), ice armor (Chiling Aura), Mirror Image (simulacrum), Magic Missle (charged blast), Ray of Frost (snow blast) on my casting bar.  Evocation, Astral Blast, and Blur for the passive skills.  It wasn't a very high-powered build.  My armor was 1088 and the official stats say my damage was 586.17 -- so not very high, actually.  Since I'd killed him once (after many tries) on my Barbarian, the experience I had on how to manage the fight actually made it possible to solo Diablo at a much lower level on the Wizard.

Well, that and the gold and knowing how to use the Auction House.

Defeating Diablo, Normal Mode (Wizard)

After playing around with the Barbarian (to Nightmare Mode level 45) I decided to toy with some of the ranged classes.  Although Demon Hunter is very popular, I decided to pick the Wizard.  I'm not sure why -- maybe I just liked his looks.

The Wizard leveled a lot faster than I figured he would.  My basic tactics were "gear up Templar, let HIM run in, and blast things from a distance."  I picked gear for overall DPS, figuring that the Wizard's job is to stay out of the way of things while someone else dies.  It worked quite well and he actually made it all the way up to Diablo (last boss) without dying -- even the icy battlefield didn't give him any trouble.  By the time he was level 30, I figured it was time to move onto the "let's get into Heaven and smush up the forces of evil."  The Barbarian (my first character) had trouble with the icy battlefields and I didn't get to heaven until she was level 34.

So what could go wrong with a Wizard character -- right?

Diablo 3 - Normal Barbarians (part 2)

(These notes are for NORMAL, not HARDCORE mode.  Not yet.  And on Normal difficulty.)

Okay -- you've gotten your character up to level 4 or so, you've picked your first skills, and you've even got some gear.  You're on your way to defeating the Big Bad Boss at the end of the game -- and unlocking the increasingly harder Nightmare, Hell, and Inferno difficulties.

Now -- let me add a note up front, here -- this is YOUR game.  I have some tactics that I use, but this should not be considered "set in stone."  I use "whirlwind" a lot, but you might prefer to have Seismic Slam or Hammer of the Ancients (both of which cost less energy) on your right mouse button.  I prefer to play with a shield but you might like the two-handed weapon best.

It's your game.  Set the game up however you like it.  Experiment with things -- that's what makes games fun!  If you have a group that you play with, then talk to them and ask them how they'd like you geared (the strategy may be for you to run in and take lots of damage while everyone stands at the edges and picks the little guys off and someone heals you, for instance.)  But if you're playing it solo, like I do, just make characters and have fun!

So... Barbarians...

Diablo 3, starting a Barbarian (part 1)

This is a series of notes about Diablo3, written from the perspective of "I never played this game before but I think I'll try it out."  This isn't a deep statistical analysis.

So... you're new to the game and you've picked a Barbarian because it's one of the easier classes to play. There's some specialty gear that drops for each class (Barbarians get a lot of belts -- don't ask me why) and this particular class gets extra bonuses just for standing around and wearing armor.  Sounds good right?

A note on character designs -- the male Witch Doctor appears to have a bad case of Parkinson's disease and although I love the idea of having Black characters in the game, the constant twitching is a bit much.  Nor do I like the prancy-girly female Demon Hunter in her high heels with twin crossbows is a real visual turn-off. 

When you log in, you begin Act 1 -- to find the "fallen star" and kill a lot of monsters.  You have two attacks (right and left mouse buttons -- the right mouse button costs more energy than the left mouse button attack) and two large globes at the bottom of your screen.  The red one is your health.  If it goes away, so do you.  The right globe is your energy (rage) and you need certain amounts of it to do certain attacks that cause more damage.  As you level, you will get options (the sword icon at the bottom (next to the person icon (your inventory)) will blink and you'll be able to choose from a number of confusing looking options.

Never fear, grasshopper.  You'll get it sorted out after a bit.  Time to go adventuring.  Run down the hill and kill whatever gets in your way.  At the bottom of the hill is Captain Rumsford.  You'll talk with him and the fun will begin.

Once you've got all the zombies sorted out (and dead), the gate opens and you can enter New Tristam.  Quest givers have glowing exclamation marks, people who want to yak at you have blue-white asterisks, and if you get lost, the icon (bottom of your screen) that looks like a wine cup has your journal with tabs about what you just read (or should have) from manuscripts you picked up and what quest you're on. 

Notable NPC's:

Getting started in Diablo 3 (no, not an Android game this time)

I admit I was sort of "meh" about getting a copy of Diablo 3 with my year's subscription to Warcraft.  Warcraft does suit all my needs, and I'm not looking for other games.  But friends were playing it and so I decided to eventually try it out because it's a solo game and sometimes I want to fiddle with something while I'm writing something else.

But once I got into the game a little bit, I discovered that a) most of the info out there was the result of rewrites of the pre-release game (and two years old) and b) contained in threads in a discussion forum.  So you have to slog through page after page after page (after page) of comments just to find out what stats you should put on the Rogue who's following you around.

So -- I haven't played it up to the highest level, but here's the basics (this is just MY opinion.  Your mileage may vary):

Glorious time wasters: Fruit Roll

If you're into old video games, you'll find yourself right at home in this side scrolling platform game for Android devices.  This free game offers a very simple scenario -- you start out the game as a yellow fruit (which changes as you encounter other things) and the goal is to bounce and squish and roll as you grab stars (points) and weapons (fruit) through different levels.  The weapons (fruit choices) appear on the left hand side of the screen as you collect them; tapping on them allows you to change your character to get that fruit's powers.  But choose your fruit weapons wisely, because if you hit the enemy with the wrong fruit, you're going to lose the encounter.  Tapping (single, double, triple) give you different jump heights.  Time them carefully, because like any physics based game it's easy to misjudge distance.  I prefer the "feel" of this on my 7 inch Android tablet, though it's quite playable on my Android phone as well.

Certain fruits change the size of your character or the game speed and affects the gameplay in a drastic fashion as you hit the higher levels.

Glorious Time Wasters: Magma Mobile's "Galaxy"

Glorious Time Wasters:  Galaxy


Initial review:  Five stars -- deceptively easy for the first rounds.

Game category:  Puzzle games

Game type: Puzzle and timed puzzle

Recommended device size:  any device

Who'd enjoy it?  For everyone, really.

My tablet chimed softly as the game screen loaded.  My husband eyed the first screen:  run your finger over three lines to connect 3 stars in a triangle.  "Tough, huh?" he joked.  I gritted my teeth.  "I'm reviewing Android games for kids.  Parents always like to have recommendations for little free Android games suitable for children so that they can keep the young ones amused while they're waiting somewhere," I said as the screen flashed "good job." 

A four sided figure appeared.  "It's a Mom thing," I said.

He looked at me, amused. 

"It's supposed to be easy," I swooshed through the figure in two seconds.  "Good job!" the screen read.

More stars appeared, connected by lines.  The next diagram was no problem for an adult but might be challenging for a four year old learning to play connect the dots games.  However, by the time the game had gotten up to level 8, the difficulty level had crept up.  There were some "one way" connections and if you tried to go over a line a second time, it would erase the line.   By the time I hit level 13, it was taking longer than 3 seconds to get through and I was having to think about which moves would work best. 

That's typical of a lot of the Magma Mobile games.