I'd like to talk about one of my favourite mods - gold find radius.
So what does it do?
Well when you play Diablo 3 you passively collect gold and health globes just by walking over them. However you have to walk exactly over them and it can be quite fiddly. I've killed a monster, begun to run forward, noticed that he dropped gold, gone back for it and turned around, notice that I missed the gold pile, gone back again to pick it up.
Time is money, friend.
I'll confess something now. I'm something of a completionist and a pack rat. I hate leaving stuff even if collecting it is sub-optimal. And in any event I'd argue that passively collecting gold is certainly not sub-optimal.
For there's a nifty little affix that helps a lot. And it helps more the more you have of it.
At 0 gold find radius you will inevitably miss a lot of gold stacks and sometimes even when you go back for them you'll try to run over them and miss. Your base pickup radius is really narrow.
At 2-4 yards gold find radius you pick up quite a lot passively and only very rarely miss if you go back for gold you miss. However if you kill a mob and immediately move forward you can get out of range before the gold hits the deck which is annoying for melee range characters.
At 6-8 yard gold find radius it's unusual to even see gold drop - it perpetually gets absorbed into your wallet without any effort on your part.
Gold find radius also boosts 2 Witch Doctor passives, crediting you as monsters are killed. That's very useful if monsters will be killed some distance from you which is quite likely at higher levels where you may be at long range while minions tank. It's also useful in a party as group members inevitably spread out.
There's one downside to increasing gold find radius - it's not always best to pick up health globes. If you have a large gold find radius you automatically consume all the globes immediately where with a smaller radius you could leave them until you need them. However that's an extra level of micromanagement, there's a case to be made for passively consuming all, especially if the content is relatively easy.
I recommend non-Witch Doctors get about 6 yard gold find radius.
I recommend Witch Doctors with the Grave Injustice or Circle of Life passives get as much as possible.
Gold Guide affiliate
Friday, 27 April 2012
Saturday, 21 April 2012
Open Beta weekend - everyone can play D3 this weekend!
We're pleased to announce the Diablo III open beta weekend, which offers open access to all players with a valid Battle.net account! Beginning this Friday everyone is invited to log in and help us put the game and servers through their paces in this three day stress test as we march toward the game's release on May 15. You can begin downloading the Diablo III client right now!
From Friday, April 20 at 12:01 p.m. PDT (noon), until Monday, April 23 at 10:00 a.m. PDT you'll be able to log in, team up with friends, and play each of the five heroic classes to level 13 as you fight to save the world from the impending demonic invasion.
FAQ
What steps do I need to take?
Log in or create a Battle.net account at http://www.battle.net
Create your BattleTag™, which is required to play Diablo III
Download the game client, install, and play between 12:01 p.m. PDT April 20 and 10:00 a.m. PDT April 23
I know some readers haven't got a Beta key so here's your chance to play the game and get a feel for it. It's a very exciting experience, the first impression the game makes is an absolultely wonderful one.
I think some beta testers have got a bit bored as the beta is so short so it's just the same content over and over again. But if you've been on the outside looking in I'm sure you'll love every moment.
12.01 pm PDT is 8.01 pm British Summer Time so the servers are open now!
Friday, 13 April 2012
275 000 Diablo 3 Beta invites
Some great news from Blizzard for people still wishing they could try D3 Beta. Go check your BNet account, you'll see the game there if you got in:
We’re in the process of sending out 275,000 Diablo III beta invites to our opt-in testers. As it’ll take us a while to notify all the lucky invitees, we recommend heading to your Battle.net Account Management and seeing if you’ve received a Diablo III beta license. If you have, you’re good to go! Download the beta client and use your Battle.net account and password to log in once it’s installed. While you’re logged into your Account Management page though, don’t forget to create your BattleTag. You can choose this permanent account-wide nickname by clicking on the BattleTag “Create one now” link on the left side of your main Battle.net Account page. Choose wisely as there’s no current ability to change it. A BattleTag is required to play Diablo III, and so whether you get into beta or not you should pick one while you’re there.
Keep in mind that with such a large amount of invites for our test hardware we fully expect a strong possibility of stress test issues, such as an inability to log in, disconnections, and potential lag/latency. We’ll also be testing our queuing system ,which you may see when attempting to enter a game.
Thank you for your continued help, feedback, and patience as we approach the May 15 release.
We’re in the process of sending out 275,000 Diablo III beta invites to our opt-in testers. As it’ll take us a while to notify all the lucky invitees, we recommend heading to your Battle.net Account Management and seeing if you’ve received a Diablo III beta license. If you have, you’re good to go! Download the beta client and use your Battle.net account and password to log in once it’s installed. While you’re logged into your Account Management page though, don’t forget to create your BattleTag. You can choose this permanent account-wide nickname by clicking on the BattleTag “Create one now” link on the left side of your main Battle.net Account page. Choose wisely as there’s no current ability to change it. A BattleTag is required to play Diablo III, and so whether you get into beta or not you should pick one while you’re there.
Keep in mind that with such a large amount of invites for our test hardware we fully expect a strong possibility of stress test issues, such as an inability to log in, disconnections, and potential lag/latency. We’ll also be testing our queuing system ,which you may see when attempting to enter a game.
Thank you for your continued help, feedback, and patience as we approach the May 15 release.
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Beta patch 16
Full patch notes here. Unofficial changes listed here.
It's a very light patch which is healthy, the game is almost done.
For the Witch Doctor Haunt got reduced duration which is a very nice buff (it does its damage quicker), Locust Swarm got higher damage and Sacrifice got higher damage. Generally a good patch for us. Haunt - Resentful Spirit is now really useful doing 287% weapon damage over 2 seconds (then presumably jumping to another target if it kills).
Dots are rather redundant in Beta but will be useful for the harder difficulties.
It's a very light patch which is healthy, the game is almost done.
For the Witch Doctor Haunt got reduced duration which is a very nice buff (it does its damage quicker), Locust Swarm got higher damage and Sacrifice got higher damage. Generally a good patch for us. Haunt - Resentful Spirit is now really useful doing 287% weapon damage over 2 seconds (then presumably jumping to another target if it kills).
Dots are rather redundant in Beta but will be useful for the harder difficulties.
Monday, 9 April 2012
Beta Patch 16 and character wipe
The Diablo III beta is currently undergoing maintenance as we prepare to deploy the next beta patch. We anticipate that downtime will last for about 8 to 9 hours, until approximately 8:00 p.m./9:00 p.m. PDT.
Please note that Beta Patch 16 will include a character wipe. As with previous character wipes, this wipe will also affect gold, achievements, items, followers, and artisans.
Thank you for your patience!
No patch notes yet. I'd guess they'll change the skill trees around to show off some different skills (it seems as much marketing as game design at this point) and they'll do some fixes to the auction house UI.
Please note that Beta Patch 16 will include a character wipe. As with previous character wipes, this wipe will also affect gold, achievements, items, followers, and artisans.
Thank you for your patience!
No patch notes yet. I'd guess they'll change the skill trees around to show off some different skills (it seems as much marketing as game design at this point) and they'll do some fixes to the auction house UI.
Thursday, 5 April 2012
Wednesday, 4 April 2012
What are you playing till May 15th?
After exploring the Diablo 3 beta I found myself casting around for something to do.
I usually spend a little time in Eve Online each day as I find that game fascinating. However at the moment I'm mostly generating income passively, storing it up for the next surge of pvping. I won't do so now because Eve is a game where everything takes absolutely ages. By the time I find an outfit I like, get my ships to their combat hub and fly a few fleets with them it would be almost Diablo 3 time. No point joining someone to go perma-afk after a few weeks.
I decided to go back to Everquest 2 and asked a friend if he wanted to give it another go with me. We got to about level 10, he swapped his new guy for an old character and mentored down and then pushed on a few more levels. I really like EQ2 and I'm very happy that I can casually drop in for free whenever I feel and have tons to do. There's a bewildering amount of content. I joined the dungeon finder tool and it popped up pretty quickly. It wasn't like that when they first introduced it because I think people were basically conservative. However it's gained considerable traction since I last played.
We discovered that the virtual card game that is packaged with EQ2 had been quietly accumulating cards. On one of my accounts I had 102 boosters! I had been aware previously that EQ2 players got free boosters for this game but it had never worked before. Naturally since we had all these cards we had to try it.
Legends of Norrath is a very good collectible card game. It has significant twists on the basic framework that Magic: The Gathering created and the artwork is beautiful. It also has the somewhat quirky Everquest sense of humour. I always find their plotlines reminiscent of Piers Anthony's Xanth series.
I'd certainly recommend anyone who likes card games and has ever played EQ or EQ2 to log in and see if there's boosters waiting for you. Even if you don't play for long it's great fun opening boosters and seeing all your cards. (They're locked so you can't trade them, at least the free ones are).
Now there's another free to play card game of course that SOE do (several actually but another that interests me). They have Magic The Gathering Tactics.
Magic The Gathering: Tactics is a delightful blend of Heroes Of Might & Magic 3 and Magic The Gathering. Your forces move across a board much like HOMM3 but the cards are all Magic cards. It has a lot of critics, particularly on the Wizards of the Coast board so whatever you do don't read that forum. This is because Tactics rewrites a lot of the classic MTG gameplay.
It is very attractive to me because I loved Magic I loved HOMM3 and I like to finesse free to play games. I had some Station Cash anyway so I spent some of it unlocking the 6 paid campaigns (1500 SC, about £12). I've built up a deck made of commons that is just starting to get some results. I beat a level 52 player (out of 55 max level) twice this morning so I must be close. I've also started flipping rares on the auction house, following Marcko's advice of Buy Low, Sell Normal. Unfortunately sales are slow. I'll probably sell a few at the weekend.
Magic The Gathering is a more interesting game for me because the cards were part of my gaming history. I am a former UK national champion and when I had my Magic phase I reckon I spent about £5000 on cards in that year.
There's a lot to recommend it for Diablo 3 fans. It's fast and furious. Tournament matches have a 15 minute chess clock that means you have to build a deck to win and win fast. I've already lost one game to the clock - that will teach me to play Blue! There's an interesting auction house and trading element to the game. And, because it's free to play, you can dip in and play it for 6 weeks then drop it to play Diablo 3 without losing the value of the time you spend progressing.
My character is Stabsey, say Hi if you give it a try.
I usually spend a little time in Eve Online each day as I find that game fascinating. However at the moment I'm mostly generating income passively, storing it up for the next surge of pvping. I won't do so now because Eve is a game where everything takes absolutely ages. By the time I find an outfit I like, get my ships to their combat hub and fly a few fleets with them it would be almost Diablo 3 time. No point joining someone to go perma-afk after a few weeks.
 |
| Eve Online |
I decided to go back to Everquest 2 and asked a friend if he wanted to give it another go with me. We got to about level 10, he swapped his new guy for an old character and mentored down and then pushed on a few more levels. I really like EQ2 and I'm very happy that I can casually drop in for free whenever I feel and have tons to do. There's a bewildering amount of content. I joined the dungeon finder tool and it popped up pretty quickly. It wasn't like that when they first introduced it because I think people were basically conservative. However it's gained considerable traction since I last played.
 |
| Everquest 2 |
We discovered that the virtual card game that is packaged with EQ2 had been quietly accumulating cards. On one of my accounts I had 102 boosters! I had been aware previously that EQ2 players got free boosters for this game but it had never worked before. Naturally since we had all these cards we had to try it.
Legends of Norrath is a very good collectible card game. It has significant twists on the basic framework that Magic: The Gathering created and the artwork is beautiful. It also has the somewhat quirky Everquest sense of humour. I always find their plotlines reminiscent of Piers Anthony's Xanth series.
 |
| Legends of Norrath |
I'd certainly recommend anyone who likes card games and has ever played EQ or EQ2 to log in and see if there's boosters waiting for you. Even if you don't play for long it's great fun opening boosters and seeing all your cards. (They're locked so you can't trade them, at least the free ones are).
Now there's another free to play card game of course that SOE do (several actually but another that interests me). They have Magic The Gathering Tactics.
 |
| Magic the Gathering: Tactics |
Magic The Gathering: Tactics is a delightful blend of Heroes Of Might & Magic 3 and Magic The Gathering. Your forces move across a board much like HOMM3 but the cards are all Magic cards. It has a lot of critics, particularly on the Wizards of the Coast board so whatever you do don't read that forum. This is because Tactics rewrites a lot of the classic MTG gameplay.
 |
| Heroes of Might and Magic 3 |
It is very attractive to me because I loved Magic I loved HOMM3 and I like to finesse free to play games. I had some Station Cash anyway so I spent some of it unlocking the 6 paid campaigns (1500 SC, about £12). I've built up a deck made of commons that is just starting to get some results. I beat a level 52 player (out of 55 max level) twice this morning so I must be close. I've also started flipping rares on the auction house, following Marcko's advice of Buy Low, Sell Normal. Unfortunately sales are slow. I'll probably sell a few at the weekend.
Magic The Gathering is a more interesting game for me because the cards were part of my gaming history. I am a former UK national champion and when I had my Magic phase I reckon I spent about £5000 on cards in that year.
There's a lot to recommend it for Diablo 3 fans. It's fast and furious. Tournament matches have a 15 minute chess clock that means you have to build a deck to win and win fast. I've already lost one game to the clock - that will teach me to play Blue! There's an interesting auction house and trading element to the game. And, because it's free to play, you can dip in and play it for 6 weeks then drop it to play Diablo 3 without losing the value of the time you spend progressing.
My character is Stabsey, say Hi if you give it a try.
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