Everything you need--from the basics to theory crafting--to help take you from Noob to Nephalem.
Basic Character Building
Before we get into how to build each class and what the most 1337 class builds are, I think it’s important that we go over some of the basics first.
The Balance of Life
No matter what class you play or who you play with, survivability should always be accounted for in any build. With higher level enemies having copious amounts of cc (crowd control aka fear, stun, root) and gap closers (such as teleport) keeping yourself out of the enemies’ sights isn’t always easy. Thus, while the idea of a ‘glass cannon’ may be appealing, you’ll end up being nothing but a one-hit wonder – literally dying from one attack! Just remember no matter how high your DPS is you’ll deal 0 DPS as a corpse.
Thus, it’s important to account for some level of sustainability, even if it’s only enough to help you survive a few consecutive hits. The easiest way to do this is to balance your main statistic (Dexterity, Strength, or Intelligence) with Vitality. Balancing between these two statistics will help provide your character with a respectable level of health points, without sacrificing too much in the way of damage. Additionally characters that are looking to fight head on are going to want to take into account statistics like Armor and Strength, which both increase your resistance to physical attacks.
Finally every character should bolster their resistances. On higher difficulties the devastating elemental attacks and never-ending onslaught of cc skills will prove to be too much for any character regardless of how tank-like they are built. To counteract this players have to build up their resistances as well as adhering to their other stats. Of course this makes choosing your equipment far more complicated, but you don’t really have to start considering resistances till around level 50, and by then you should be ready for the challenge.
Double Up Where Possible
After reading the last few paragraphs you may be thinking that to strengthen one statistic you’ll have to give up another, but with patience, perseverance, and a little RPG know how it is easy to round out your stats without losing too much in any one department. The easiest way to start doing this is to hold out for equipment that offers the best of both worlds. Look for items that offer your main attribute and some secondary statistics as well; if you’re patient enough you should be able to achieve both simultaneously. Additionally players can use their passives to help them further diversify their builds. For example, the Monk has a passive called ‘Seize the Initiative’ which allows 100% of the Monk’s Dexterity to be attributed towards his Armor (which is what strength normally does). This allows the Monk to build for damage by stacking Dexterity while still bolstering his defensives in the process.
Don’t Bring a Wand to a Sword Fight
Diablo 3 isn’t like your standard fare RPG where spell casters can sit back and simply sling their magic without getting their hands dirty. No, their expected to pick up heavy weaponry and jump into the fray just like the rest of us. To reiterate this point Blizzard has made all of the skills/spells based off of weapon damage instead of base stats like Intelligence or Dexterity. Thus, even when playing a class like the Wizard it is beneficial to give up a few points of Intelligence for a high DPS weapon. However, don’t completely forget about your base attributes as they do dictate your overall Damage output, just not as drastically as your weapon damage.
Choosing Your Follower
When players opt for solo play they will be given the opportunity to choose one of three companions to accompany them on their journey. Players will be able to choose from the sturdy Templar, the mischievous Scoundrel, and the alluring Enchantress. Each follower offers a unique skillset and should be chosen to complement your play style.
Templar – Is your basic all around support character. The Templar is able to both divert the enemy’s attention and heal the player when they are low health. The Templar is the perfect follower for classes that prefer to do their damage at range or need that extra bit of survivability.
Scoundrel – Is the most offense based follower, focusing heavily on dealing damaged. His high damage coupled with a few crowd control abilities makes him the perfect match for melee-based players looking for that extra burst of DPS.
Enchantress – Is a solid ranged support, focusing both on buffing your character and controlling your enemies. The enchantress is perfect for helping to mitigate incoming damage, while controlling large packs of enemies.
The Character Builds – Intro to Theory Crafting
In the pages that follow you will see my take on each of the five classes available for play in Diablo 3. Instead of simply giving you a number of builds for each scenario I’m going to offer one detailed solo/sustain build for each of the classes. Why do this? Is it because I’m lazy? No, actually providing you with one in-depth build is more work than simply providing three builds for each class. In truth, my hope is to introduce you to the idea of theory crafting, to get you thinking about how to build classes for different situations, and more importantly builds that suit your individual play style. Games like Diablo 3 are constantly in flux with persistent patches that will switch up strategies and builds. Thus, I’m here to teach how to play for the long haul. Other guides might give you a fish, but I’ll show you how to catch those suckers!
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