Diablo III:3 Kanai Fix It?

[Psyren]

It's not that they're irrelevant, they're just not worth giving up good primary affixes to get, at least for most builds. There are some gimmick builds that use secondary affixes, like a Thornsader.

Multishot DH wants +Discipline secondary stats on most pieces as well.

[Rynjin]

TIL that outside of Seasonal you can't play Adventure mode unless you've beaten the story before.

This is inconvenient.

On the bright side Normal mode was not designed to handle an endgame specced Inna build so at least all I have to do is hold left mouse and occasionally click dialogue boxes.

[Psyren]

Necromancer is live for those interested. You can level one rather quickly if you have a gem of ease or bored friend, and practice end game builds in preparation for next season.

[Erloas]

I bought it last night (after the update finished, so not much time to actually play) and got about 5 minutes in and said "screw this" to playing a low level character with 2 skills. Jumped on my DH, and thanks to same screen multiplayer and automatically jumping the inactive player as I move on the PS4, I was able to powerlevel him from about 8 to mid 50s before I had to go to sleep. I could have probably finished him off if I hadn't been limited to T5, things die before I even get to see them the majority of the time.

So maybe tonight I'll actually get to see what the necromancer can do.

[Psyren]

If you don't want to take the scenic route, why not just level a Gem of Ease and stick it in a 2H weapon for your necro? You'll hit level cap and have all your skills in like an hour, two tops.

[Icewraith]

As a super generic guideline, Mainstat + Crit stats in the slots that can have both crit hit and crit chance, mainstat + vit + (Res All or Armor) in the slots that can't; you want whichever defensive stat is not provided by your mainstat. Last priority is usually +skill damage or +elemental damage for your primary/preferred DPS skill, although some builds want Reduce Resource Cost or Cooldown Reduction when possible instead. Secondary affixes are mostly irrelevant to the majority of builds.

Most Monks use the Harmony passive, which treats 40% of your secondary elemental resistances as Resist All. Those Monk builds LOVE getting Elemental resists as secondaries.

Elemental Damage tends to be a priority on Bracers and to a lesser extent on Amulets (still usually gets overshadowed in importance by the huge Crit/Crit damage available on Amulets). You can't normally get it anywhere else unless it's a property of the item in question (i.e. Fire elemental damage on the Firebird off-hand).

Also in a generic itemization guide I would suggest covering what I think is super obvious, just in case: Sockets. Rings, Amulets, Helms, and Weapons (but not off-hands or shields) are all worthless at 70 if they don't have sockets, if they drop without sockets but they're good for your build you'll usually be rerolling them so they do have Sockets. With weapons you can use a Ramaladni's Gift to add a socket if it doesn't already have one. Gifts are not super common, so you usually want to save them for well-rolled Ancient or Primal weapons.

[Psyren]

To add to Icewraith's summary - chest slot and pants items need sockets too (3 and 2 respectively) to be worthwhile. Class sets thankfully come guaranteed with those, but regular legendaries (other than primals) don't.

[Erloas]

With the Int based classes, is Int the best gem to stick in there? I know for dex/str you usually get the most out of diamonds for the elemental resist. But with Int I think you start to hit diminishing returns on straight resistance, so the all around boost that comes from Int works out better?

The necro has been... slow so far. I can do T5 rifts but they are just slow. And it seems like the "high damage" hits aren't all that high (knowing some of that comes down to itemization). If you can get rolling the necro seems to do good, but any fight that lasts for more than about 15 seconds it seems like all of your pets have passed on and the elites are still left without any great options against them. I found the golem to almost be a necessity, and the skeletons do ok but they seem to die pretty quickly.

[Psyren]

With the Int based classes, is Int the best gem to stick in there? I know for dex/str you usually get the most out of diamonds for the elemental resist. But with Int I think you start to hit diminishing returns on straight resistance, so the all around boost that comes from Int works out better?

Except for jewelry and helmet you should always be gemming main stat. The only exception is Crusader because of their Finery passive, and being squishy (despite the shield and the 30% toughness melee buff.)

On hardcore some people gem diamonds instead, largely because damage matters less there than not dying (for obvious reasons.)

The necro has been... slow so far. I can do T5 rifts but they are just slow. And it seems like the "high damage" hits aren't all that high (knowing some of that comes down to itemization). If you can get rolling the necro seems to do good, but any fight that lasts for more than about 15 seconds it seems like all of your pets have passed on and the elites are still left without any great options against them. I found the golem to almost be a necessity, and the skeletons do ok but they seem to die pretty quickly.

Unfortunately I can't help with them as I have no idea of any builds that I really like with it yet. Still experimenting.

I will say that Skeleton Mages are very powerful.

[The_Jackal]

Unfortunately I can't help with them as I have no idea of any builds that I really like with it yet. Still experimenting.

I will say that Skeleton Mages are very powerful.

I decided to pick up the Necromancer pack after all, tried it for a while. I agree, I like the Skeleton Mage, it's kind of a powered-up version of Spirit Barrage: Manitou, albeit with a shorter duration. I feel like a pet-less or golem-only build with the Stand Alone passive has potential. I have to say, though, that virtually all of the passives leave me utterly cold.

[Vaz]

Aberrant Animator would be nice in team play if a Crusader's Consecration Bed of Nails improved nearby individuals Thorn Damage also.

[Erloas]

Anyone know how the defensive stats on the pets scale? It seemed like a lot of the time the majority of the skeletons were dead, and without a clear idea of how to keep them alive it makes it hard to count on them as a damage source.

I didn't notice much from the skeleton mage. Maybe I'll have to drop the difficult a step or two and go into an area where I can test individual skills and see how they stack up. I think there were a lot of skills that it just wasn't clear what part of what was going on each skill was doing. The hordes of pets made it really easy to stay out of attention, which is a defense in its own, but it made it hard to tell what any given one was doing.

[tyckspoon]

Anyone know how the defensive stats on the pets scale? It seemed like a lot of the time the majority of the skeletons were dead, and without a clear idea of how to keep them alive it makes it hard to count on them as a damage source.

They probably have some more tuning to do, but it's possible they designed those skills assuming you'd be using (level 25+) Enforcer and/or a skeleton horde focused class set to buff them. Most other classes' pets seem near immortal to me, or become so when matched with the appropriate set/legendary buffs; you may just be pushing the edges of the difficulty your current equipment can do.

[Psyren]

What tyckspoon said; in general, if your pets are dying, it means you yourself are probably going to be plastered by whatever is killing them. They typically have far more toughness than you do, from the AoE damage reduction bonus if nothing else.

[Psyren]

Sorry to double-post, but I learned of a hidden benefit this patch that I wanted to share - every set dungeon has had its mastery time extended by a full minute, and monsters can now be tracked on the minimap from the very beginning. So if like me you've ever found yourself running out of time racing around the dungeon trying to find that one last mob that I overlooked, it's time to go and get those pennants and wings.

Note that to get the full mastery wings, you do NOT need to master the Necro dungeons as well. (I believe they do have a pennant though.)

[Erloas]

That would be all I need to finish Inna. I think before we (ex wife) got close to both Marauders and Tal Rasha, and since I have both characters I should go check those out again.

Starting to get a bit more used to the necro. Not enamored with him yet though.
I've tried upgrading 4 Phylacteries so far and all of the same thing, and not one I see myself using any time soon. Have to remember to do that with scythes too.

I'm also sad to realize you can't do a "change set items" on the 2 piece sets, wanted to swap a spare set of F/R I had in my vault to be necro specific and that is a lot cheaper way to do it than the reforge legendary. I guess it is more bounties for me.
A bit disappointed that the necro set weapon is weapon/shield instead of weapon/phylactery.

[Vaz]

Is anyone else getting a supremely annoying sound every so often playing Necro? I have Pox Faulds on, but it sounds like sound tearing.

Anyway, while I'm levelling, I've found my favourite Transmog to date.

Spoiler

Show

Helm of Kassar looks great in White, they were the only really decent Shoulders, and there are no blue pants to match the Boots, Arms, or Torso, which is very annoying. Also, have always loved the Sultan of Blinding Sand, just wish there was a viable use for it in game. Some sort of Nightmare build which hurts does DoT to Blinded enemies etc.

[Lord Torath]

Also, have always loved the Sultan of Blinding Sand, just wish there was a viable use for it in game. Some sort of Nightmare build which hurts does DoT to Blinded enemies etc.

I usually give it to Irena (enchantress follower). Which is why it was so frustrating to find a Primal Ancient one with my Crusader, with Strength, Vitality, and Life per Hit. I wish you could reforge the thing without loosing it's Primal-Ancient-ness.

[Erloas]

So a few key drops yesterday and the necromancer became fun. Flinging the bones of corpses at the enemy seems like a much better use than to reanimate them. Of course it was itemization that had me try the change, so it is hard to call it a fair comparison, but it was more fun having something to do rather than kite constantly while my minions did their thing. I also think that in a fast moving multiplayer rift the pets just have too much time overhead to do as much as they could. I also see that it appears to be capped at 10, which is disappointing, and a reason against it, as any good fight leaves a lot more than 10 corpses around, so not being able to put a lot of your resources to use is a waste.

The only thing I've found is that it seems now my damage has well outpaced my survivability. I could burn through a lot of enemies now, but there have been quite a few times where I just die and I know it isn't from things like ground effects.

Also I guess I see why death's breath farming is a thing, I didn't think I would ever run out, until I decided to really start upgrading yellows.

[Psyren]

The current Challenge Rift is a Necro wearing the melee set, so it's a good intro to that playstyle for the class. Particularly the combo of popping Land of the Dead and then spamming Corpse Explosion over and over and watching elites melt.

[Rynjin]

So far I've tried Trag'Ouls and Pestilence and I'm not feeling either. My Inarius and Rathma buddies are running TX like it's nothing while missing a few key items, but the other two are not nearly as forgiving.

I just wanted to be Blood and/or Bone man. =(

[Dhavaer]

How much damage does Manald Heal do? I've been running an electrocute build for breath farming and I've found that I generally do scratch damage for a while, and then everything around me abruptly dies at once. Usually it happens when they're at around 20-30% of their hp, but I've had it happen at over 50%. Is Manald Heal hitting on every electrocute jump?

Edit: this is on Torment XIII.

[Rynjin]

That lines up with my friends' experience with the electrocute build and Manald.

Nothing...nothing...BARRAGE OF UNHOLY DEATH AND DESTRUCTION...Nothing...Nothing...Nothing...

[Psyren]

So far I've tried Trag'Ouls and Pestilence and I'm not feeling either. My Inarius and Rathma buddies are running TX like it's nothing while missing a few key items, but the other two are not nearly as forgiving.

I just wanted to be Blood and/or Bone man. =(

Trag'oul needs work, I definitely agree. The set does absolutely nothing damage-wise until you get the 6pc, and even then you need very specific legendaries to make builds work, and even then you feel squishy as all get-out. Pestilence, I'm not sure anyone really knows what to do with it yet.

Also, is D3Planner down?

[Rynjin]

I've SORT OF got Trag'Ouls going now to the point I can run TX with significant effort. I have the 6 pc, Dayntee's, the Corroded Fang, Moribund Gauntlets, the Shadowhook (is there any Necro build that doesn't use this thing in some capacity? I've been mostly avoiding looking at others' builds online),and Corpsewhisper so my issue of not having enough corpses is gone and I instagib just about anything on TX.

The problem is SURVIVABILITY. The menu says I have 95mil Toughness, but that's not really true since at least half of that just comes from HP and not damage reduction so it really just gives me 1-2 extra hits if I'm lucky. I can demolish elites with no effort but packs of normal enemies are a ludicrous threat to me. I have to keep popping around and running away to avoid getting mobbed and killed, which makes my time to clear way lower than it should be. I can see how it would work super great in group play but running solo (without a second Unity for cheese damage reduction) is harrowing. The playstyle begs to play back lines artillery but in practice running solo I'm closer to a not as good version of the Phoenix build for Wizard. Drop Decepify+Dayntee's for the passive buffs, flee to the next elite, kill fast, flee some more, and hope I don't get trapped and killed.

[Psyren]

Have you tried Lornelle's Sunstone with Trag'oul? No idea if it works, but it seems like it was meant to. Copmbined with Dayntee you might get enough DR to climb a bit higher. You can even run both that and a Unity, though I think your damage will take a pretty big hit if you do (forcing you to use either EW or CoE as your third ring, but not both.)

Alternatively, pile on the defensive gems like Esoteric, Moratorium and/or Gizzard, though here again your damage is taking more of a hit than most builds. Yeah, they just need to tweak it.

[The_Jackal]

I've SORT OF got Trag'Ouls going now to the point I can run TX with significant effort. I have the 6 pc, Dayntee's, the Corroded Fang, Moribund Gauntlets, the Shadowhook (is there any Necro build that doesn't use this thing in some capacity? I've been mostly avoiding looking at others' builds online),and Corpsewhisper so my issue of not having enough corpses is gone and I instagib just about anything on TX.

The problem is SURVIVABILITY. The menu says I have 95mil Toughness, but that's not really true since at least half of that just comes from HP and not damage reduction so it really just gives me 1-2 extra hits if I'm lucky. I can demolish elites with no effort but packs of normal enemies are a ludicrous threat to me. I have to keep popping around and running away to avoid getting mobbed and killed, which makes my time to clear way lower than it should be. I can see how it would work super great in group play but running solo (without a second Unity for cheese damage reduction) is harrowing. The playstyle begs to play back lines artillery but in practice running solo I'm closer to a not as good version of the Phoenix build for Wizard. Drop Decepify+Dayntee's for the passive buffs, flee to the next elite, kill fast, flee some more, and hope I don't get trapped and killed.

What's your build? I assume you're using Funerary Pick with Iron Rose, in which case you can use Aquilla Cuirass to use a (mostly) spender-less build. Constant 4% life leech, plus more for 'draw life' when you're surrounded/outnumbered should be pretty respectable.

[Rynjin]

You assume wrong. That sounded douchier than intended. But anyway: THAT'S the build I was trying to go for originally and it had the opposite issue. Survivability was okay, but I couldn't kill anything...in T6.

I might swap back to that once I get the other major damage boosters for Corpse Lance but that's not viable ATM.

Have you tried Lornelle's Sunstone with Trag'oul? No idea if it works, but it seems like it was meant to. Copmbined with Dayntee you might get enough DR to climb a bit higher. You can even run both that and a Unity, though I think your damage will take a pretty big hit if you do (forcing you to use either EW or CoE as your third ring, but not both.)

Alternatively, pile on the defensive gems like Esoteric, Moratorium and/or Gizzard, though here again your damage is taking more of a hit than most builds. Yeah, they just need to tweak it.

Forgot about the Sunstone, I was using that for a bit but took it off. I'll swap My Convention for that for now I think, though my Sunstone is really bad from what I remember. Already using Esoteric, Moratorium, and Gizzard but Esoteric is the only one I had leveled from a previous character so I have a 45 Esoteric, a 9 Moratorium, and 0 Gizzard.

My damage is currently overkill, so taking a slight hit isn't a big deal.

Thanks!

[Icewraith]

Sorry to double-post, but I learned of a hidden benefit this patch that I wanted to share - every set dungeon has had its mastery time extended by a full minute, and monsters can now be tracked on the minimap from the very beginning. So if like me you've ever found yourself running out of time racing around the dungeon trying to find that one last mob that I overlooked, it's time to go and get those pennants and wings.

Note that to get the full mastery wings, you do NOT need to master the Necro dungeons as well. (I believe they do have a pennant though.)

I got super excited about this. That damn last skull on the map.... much less of a problem!

How much damage does Manald Heal do? I've been running an electrocute build for breath farming and I've found that I generally do scratch damage for a while, and then everything around me abruptly dies at once. Usually it happens when they're at around 20-30% of their hp, but I've had it happen at over 50%. Is Manald Heal hitting on every electrocute jump?

Edit: this is on Torment XIII.

Manald hits whenever the Paralysis passive procs, and the Paralysis passive only procs 10-15% of the time (don't remember the exact number but it's in that range). However, the Paralysis passive will proc Manald Heal even if the target is immune to stuns. I'm also fairly certain that once Paralysis procs, it applies to the rest of the attacks made by that spell or an extra half a second or so while channeling. So when it does proc, everything in the beam or chain dies. But the times it doesn't proc result in those damage droughts.

Also interesting to note: the Manald damage is not boosted by Lightning % damage on gear. However, the Archon variants still need it on bracers to make sure the Archon attacks are Lightning-based. So if you've got Lightning elemental damage on your amulet in a Manald Wizard build... it's almost completely useless.

[Psyren]

I've gotten my wings for completing every set dungeon. I only need two for total mastery, both of which are Barbarian sets - Might of Earth, and Wastes. That extra time this patch has been pretty key.

I'm really glad they didn't add the necro dungeons to the requirement, but I definitely plan to do those too! The two I peeked inside so far (blood set and melee set) were really easy.

EDIT: I DID IT, MASTERED EVERY SET DUNGEON! (except necro.) asdadjkfgaskjdh