Hello. I really am enjoying this mod but I have a few questions. First I want to say that I am a level 27 warriors on Normal Difficulty.
Is this mod ramped up in difficulty much more than vanilla D1? I don't remember having to farm for gear as much. I have been reading on this board and it seems people having difficulty really have to farm and farm for better gear. I don't remember having to spend that much time farming on D1 Vanilla.
Also, the bosses seem nearly impossible. It seems as if this mod requires you to have some knowledge about Diablo already or ARPGS. I don't think someone new to this genre could beat even normal difficulty. I've ran into mobs with immunites and cold enhancements where trying to kill the unique is impossible at times because it hurts you faster than you are able to heal.
Now for my own problem. I am at Doomlord Ga'mar and he is impossible. Literally impossible. I have my resistances at 50% and 20%. Do I really have to max my resistances? I don't remember having to do this on vanilla D1. Has this mod beefed up the difficulty so that people that are experts like these could enjoy a challenge? Maybe I am just not skilled enough to beat this, but maybe if this Mod had the difficulty of vanilla D1 with the bells and whistles then I might be able to enjoy it more.
I'm not saying its a bad mod, it just feels way too unfair and a little too difficult at times. Difficult to the point where I just lose hope and want to give up.
Are tips for this mainly to up the monster power difficulty and farm gear? It seems this mod is more gear dependent, not sure though.
Take care.
This mod feels unfair and way too difficult at times.
-
GeorgeJetson
- Posts: 3
- Joined: 29 Jan, 2016 5:33
-
DacianDraco
- Posts: 461
- Joined: 30 Aug, 2015 4:04
- Location: Cybertron
Hi George and welcome to the forum.
I can't speak for the devs but i will out of my own experience. Unlike classic D1 where there was no difficulty whatsoever (you could play all characters in the same way, with same gear, no farming because you had endless reloads for refreshing the NPC's gear to get those Zodiac rings of the whale or whatever it was, and i will stop here because it's just unfair to critique a game that's reaching 20 years) this mod actually scales it up pretty well, occasionally posses a real challenge, gives each character class uniqueness and punishes you when you play it wrong. And nowadays i feel we need more of this, in the dumbed down world of gaming, also this mod is not exclusively done for experts, it just requires some attention and bit of thought to get you through it. In most games you are a butterfly breezing through and next week uninstalling because there is nothing to do anymore.
Anyway, let us move on and have some practical advice and point out some mistakes that have been made or things that were overlooked.
WDM (weapon damage modifiers) characters are gear dependent, weapons especially, and need to always make use of their new skills and learn how to deal with different types of monsters. And well everyone's first character was the hardest to play, but after it all will get better (even OP in some cases) especially once you hand down some gear to the others or find and mix some of the new uniq/set items, also you've learned how monsters behave, how to use the environment, spells, skills, etc. Basically there is a learning curve, which lacked in classic D1.
Now trust me when i say this, Normal difficulty is really easy, you can reach the end boss in less than 6 hours even if you never played the game before, besting the Terror's Domain indeed requires some skill, and a perfect run (in less than 1h) but it should be so for the game's end, unlike classic D1 where the fight with Diablo was unimpressive and took only a few minutes. And not to discourage you, but in Torment difficulty almost all monsters are immune to 3 or even all elements, but when playing a WDM class it's not much of a problem, you deal mainly physical damage anyway, thou monster's high speed and damage may be a detriment, but if you got to the 4th difficulty you are experienced enough and will manage it.
If Cold Enchanted is freezing you, just equip something with the affix Cannot be frozen, you don't have to always use it, just against a few variations of monsters what can freeze you. Also resistances should always be at the minimum of 75%, and in some special cases equip some +% max resistances gear to have an easier time. Besides this the weapon speed is crucial, with a great attack time you can keep monsters in hit recovery and not take any damage basically, not all types of monsters but most of them.
As for your problem with Doomlord Gam'ar, note that he does Magic damage with his spells and is immune to Magic, so stack up Magic Resistance if you want to survive him, spawn some Guardians and a Sentinel before stepping on the last stone, spawn a Golem behind him so he turns his back on you (and hopefully cast that Arcane Nova on him instead of near you), buff (Shield Wall, Insanity, Sacrifice), position yourself exactly south of him, hack at him with Cleave on LMB and an occasional Valiant Strike from RMB, and when the buffs wear off Teleport away preferably over the wall in the west room because his AI finds the route there too long and won't follow you and just stop somewhere, drink HP potion to counter the Insanity's life drain (thou it's preferred to use just Full Rejuvenation potions for this level) and repeat. His 2nd General is somewhat easier and 3rd is really easy, and even thou you may not get to fight Diablo without failing the Map of the Stars quest on your first try once you've done it a few times you become better and faster and with strong reflexes, which will help you further in higher difficulties.
So don't give up, just feel free to ask for help when you lose hope, i know i wrote a lot, but still i feel i didn't covered it all and may have forgotten something. Anyway the challenge is here to get the adrenaline pumping and once you beat it you actually feel the accomplishment. In my opinion this is how the game should have always been, you are up against the fucking Lord of Terror and it should be tense. I for one can't play classic D1 anymore, it's boring, thou i played it since the 90's and a lot of other stuff since, so i prefer any mod over classic.
Sorry if i sound like a snob, i'm not, i've experienced the whole of the mod and i feel it's ok as is, had 2 full playthroughs with all characters and another 1 up to Hell difficulty's end without spending any attribute points gained trough leveling and learning just 1 level of all spells, for testing purposes. Also have and used almost all items in game, and if it was up to me there are very few minor changes i would make. Anyway i still enjoy it and i'm thankful someone has put so many hours into it, it's more than anyone could imagine for a game as old as D1.
I can't speak for the devs but i will out of my own experience. Unlike classic D1 where there was no difficulty whatsoever (you could play all characters in the same way, with same gear, no farming because you had endless reloads for refreshing the NPC's gear to get those Zodiac rings of the whale or whatever it was, and i will stop here because it's just unfair to critique a game that's reaching 20 years) this mod actually scales it up pretty well, occasionally posses a real challenge, gives each character class uniqueness and punishes you when you play it wrong. And nowadays i feel we need more of this, in the dumbed down world of gaming, also this mod is not exclusively done for experts, it just requires some attention and bit of thought to get you through it. In most games you are a butterfly breezing through and next week uninstalling because there is nothing to do anymore.
Anyway, let us move on and have some practical advice and point out some mistakes that have been made or things that were overlooked.
WDM (weapon damage modifiers) characters are gear dependent, weapons especially, and need to always make use of their new skills and learn how to deal with different types of monsters. And well everyone's first character was the hardest to play, but after it all will get better (even OP in some cases) especially once you hand down some gear to the others or find and mix some of the new uniq/set items, also you've learned how monsters behave, how to use the environment, spells, skills, etc. Basically there is a learning curve, which lacked in classic D1.
Now trust me when i say this, Normal difficulty is really easy, you can reach the end boss in less than 6 hours even if you never played the game before, besting the Terror's Domain indeed requires some skill, and a perfect run (in less than 1h) but it should be so for the game's end, unlike classic D1 where the fight with Diablo was unimpressive and took only a few minutes. And not to discourage you, but in Torment difficulty almost all monsters are immune to 3 or even all elements, but when playing a WDM class it's not much of a problem, you deal mainly physical damage anyway, thou monster's high speed and damage may be a detriment, but if you got to the 4th difficulty you are experienced enough and will manage it.
If Cold Enchanted is freezing you, just equip something with the affix Cannot be frozen, you don't have to always use it, just against a few variations of monsters what can freeze you. Also resistances should always be at the minimum of 75%, and in some special cases equip some +% max resistances gear to have an easier time. Besides this the weapon speed is crucial, with a great attack time you can keep monsters in hit recovery and not take any damage basically, not all types of monsters but most of them.
As for your problem with Doomlord Gam'ar, note that he does Magic damage with his spells and is immune to Magic, so stack up Magic Resistance if you want to survive him, spawn some Guardians and a Sentinel before stepping on the last stone, spawn a Golem behind him so he turns his back on you (and hopefully cast that Arcane Nova on him instead of near you), buff (Shield Wall, Insanity, Sacrifice), position yourself exactly south of him, hack at him with Cleave on LMB and an occasional Valiant Strike from RMB, and when the buffs wear off Teleport away preferably over the wall in the west room because his AI finds the route there too long and won't follow you and just stop somewhere, drink HP potion to counter the Insanity's life drain (thou it's preferred to use just Full Rejuvenation potions for this level) and repeat. His 2nd General is somewhat easier and 3rd is really easy, and even thou you may not get to fight Diablo without failing the Map of the Stars quest on your first try once you've done it a few times you become better and faster and with strong reflexes, which will help you further in higher difficulties.
So don't give up, just feel free to ask for help when you lose hope, i know i wrote a lot, but still i feel i didn't covered it all and may have forgotten something. Anyway the challenge is here to get the adrenaline pumping and once you beat it you actually feel the accomplishment. In my opinion this is how the game should have always been, you are up against the fucking Lord of Terror and it should be tense. I for one can't play classic D1 anymore, it's boring, thou i played it since the 90's and a lot of other stuff since, so i prefer any mod over classic.
Sorry if i sound like a snob, i'm not, i've experienced the whole of the mod and i feel it's ok as is, had 2 full playthroughs with all characters and another 1 up to Hell difficulty's end without spending any attribute points gained trough leveling and learning just 1 level of all spells, for testing purposes. Also have and used almost all items in game, and if it was up to me there are very few minor changes i would make. Anyway i still enjoy it and i'm thankful someone has put so many hours into it, it's more than anyone could imagine for a game as old as D1.
-
GeorgeJetson
- Posts: 3
- Joined: 29 Jan, 2016 5:33
Thanks friend. I figured perhaps that it was scaled up a bit and I actually have come to appreciate the challenge somewhat. My warrior doesn't have enough magic to cast the spells since I was thinking classic D1 with the way that I built him. I ignored magic completely and focused strength, dex and vitality.
I'll play the game in bits and pieces just so that I can play with a clearer mind. I see what you mean about going up against the lord of Terror and how it should be pretty brutal as well, lol.
I'll keep trying though, and even if I never beat Normal, I can say that this mod is pretty good, no doubt. I do like some challenge, but if there is a choice, I'd rather have the game at a mode where I can relax in. I never was one to play games on the hardest difficulty or some such, I like more of a balance, but this game does have a learning curve that I must adapt to.
I was wondering though, are there any mods out there that exists where you can up the resolution but keeps the D1 vanilla difficulty? It's been years since I played single player vanilla, but I'd like to see a mod where it has all the difficulties, at least up to Hell, but with better resolution and the vanilla difficulty, If you know of one, then I'd be really grateful if you could point me towards it. Don't worry, I won't abandon this mod if one exists.
Thanks again.
I'll play the game in bits and pieces just so that I can play with a clearer mind. I see what you mean about going up against the lord of Terror and how it should be pretty brutal as well, lol.
I'll keep trying though, and even if I never beat Normal, I can say that this mod is pretty good, no doubt. I do like some challenge, but if there is a choice, I'd rather have the game at a mode where I can relax in. I never was one to play games on the hardest difficulty or some such, I like more of a balance, but this game does have a learning curve that I must adapt to.
I was wondering though, are there any mods out there that exists where you can up the resolution but keeps the D1 vanilla difficulty? It's been years since I played single player vanilla, but I'd like to see a mod where it has all the difficulties, at least up to Hell, but with better resolution and the vanilla difficulty, If you know of one, then I'd be really grateful if you could point me towards it. Don't worry, I won't abandon this mod if one exists.
Thanks again.
-
DacianDraco
- Posts: 461
- Joined: 30 Aug, 2015 4:04
- Location: Cybertron
I'll start from the back now in my reply. This mod is not quite a mod per say it's more of a remake of the game, it uses the resources D1 has but it's been recoded, so it doesn't work like a patch/modification/addition to the original, it's just impossible to apply it to other mods or classic D1. If you are nostalgic of classic D1 i'd recommend playing the Monk, it's a hybrid character and it's not available in this mod, so you get a different experience but in the classic D1 environment.
And don't be so down, you will undoubtedly beat Normal. Most players even jack up the difficulty and drops with the $player X command, and for some motivation you can check out this thread: http://awake.diablo1.eu.org/please-show ... -t931.html It's Torment difficulty and yes they have top gear, but they play casually in the most difficult area of the game. It's their reward for leveling and farming. With experience and certain gear this can be accomplished at all points in the game, hell i've done it even with severely handicapped characters and moved up 2 difficulties, and i'm no pro i'm average but learned what to expect and how to deal with what the game throws at me.
Now it's best to focus on just 1 attribute with each character class (a few tips here: http://awake.diablo1.eu.org/what-s-your ... t1219.html ) and they should correctly make use of Golem, Stone Curse, Bone Spirit, buffs for WDM and for casters make use of one of each elemental spell (progressively as they become available or with higher levels learnt). Your Warrior doesn't need to invest in MAG or anything besides purely STR, have some +MAG gear to learn higher spell levels, some +Mana on gear or better yet a bit of Mana Leech on jewelry/weapon, and once you start using exclusively Rejuvenation potions you won't need to worry about Mana cost anymore. Also the +All Attributes on gear will cover the rest, and with the Charge skill you will get better mobility against ranged monsters. DEX is not a bad investment, thou it's better to just invest into STR to better your class skills and later on you will find items with 50 up to 150 life, so no point in investing into VIT which only gives you 2 life for each attribute spent.
As for Gear use scimitar/rapier or long sword/battle sword because they have the fastest attack time, broad/rune and bastard/ancient become better if they have about 30+ % speed affix on them. Armor the highest you find with some - damage from enemy, resistances, life/mana and % Recovery speed. For shield any which one you can find with better block % even if it has a bit less Armor Class than some other you may have, i think you can find some of the tier 2 shields now in Normal's Terror Domain, but i may recall erroneously and they start dropping from Nightmare. Also no need for crafting at this stage, the results will be unsatisfying, maybe the 2nd set of recipe can help but they start dropping in Nightmare so you don't have them, anyway 3rd and 4th sets of recipe start making a real difference in Hell and Torment difficulty.
And don't be so down, you will undoubtedly beat Normal. Most players even jack up the difficulty and drops with the $player X command, and for some motivation you can check out this thread: http://awake.diablo1.eu.org/please-show ... -t931.html It's Torment difficulty and yes they have top gear, but they play casually in the most difficult area of the game. It's their reward for leveling and farming. With experience and certain gear this can be accomplished at all points in the game, hell i've done it even with severely handicapped characters and moved up 2 difficulties, and i'm no pro i'm average but learned what to expect and how to deal with what the game throws at me.
Now it's best to focus on just 1 attribute with each character class (a few tips here: http://awake.diablo1.eu.org/what-s-your ... t1219.html ) and they should correctly make use of Golem, Stone Curse, Bone Spirit, buffs for WDM and for casters make use of one of each elemental spell (progressively as they become available or with higher levels learnt). Your Warrior doesn't need to invest in MAG or anything besides purely STR, have some +MAG gear to learn higher spell levels, some +Mana on gear or better yet a bit of Mana Leech on jewelry/weapon, and once you start using exclusively Rejuvenation potions you won't need to worry about Mana cost anymore. Also the +All Attributes on gear will cover the rest, and with the Charge skill you will get better mobility against ranged monsters. DEX is not a bad investment, thou it's better to just invest into STR to better your class skills and later on you will find items with 50 up to 150 life, so no point in investing into VIT which only gives you 2 life for each attribute spent.
As for Gear use scimitar/rapier or long sword/battle sword because they have the fastest attack time, broad/rune and bastard/ancient become better if they have about 30+ % speed affix on them. Armor the highest you find with some - damage from enemy, resistances, life/mana and % Recovery speed. For shield any which one you can find with better block % even if it has a bit less Armor Class than some other you may have, i think you can find some of the tier 2 shields now in Normal's Terror Domain, but i may recall erroneously and they start dropping from Nightmare. Also no need for crafting at this stage, the results will be unsatisfying, maybe the 2nd set of recipe can help but they start dropping in Nightmare so you don't have them, anyway 3rd and 4th sets of recipe start making a real difference in Hell and Torment difficulty.
-
GeorgeJetson
- Posts: 3
- Joined: 29 Jan, 2016 5:33
I still think Doomlord Ga'mar is a bit overpowered. Apparently, however, that grievance was ban-worthy, even though I don't believe my message was at all inflammatory. No email was sent to me to alert me of the ban. My Assassin Review thread was deleted, so no reply was apparently given to explain the ban. I simply couldn't log in to my old account, and found my thread had vanished.
Quietly banning someone for politely expressing a concern is seriously unbecoming behaviour. Doesn't take away from how fun the mod is, but this is certainly embittering. What was wrong with my grievance? What warranted a ban without warning or explanation? If I'm silently or nonsensically banned a second time, fine, I can't stop you, but this kind of behaviour shouldn't be how forum moderators conduct themselves.
Quietly banning someone for politely expressing a concern is seriously unbecoming behaviour. Doesn't take away from how fun the mod is, but this is certainly embittering. What was wrong with my grievance? What warranted a ban without warning or explanation? If I'm silently or nonsensically banned a second time, fine, I can't stop you, but this kind of behaviour shouldn't be how forum moderators conduct themselves.
your first play through will always be the most difficult.in my experience atleast..but there hasn't been anything I haven't been able to overcome with some grinding for exp/gear because you will eventually find that piece that takes you to the next level.
also in an unrelated note I am not sure why my twitch stream thread was deleted
also in an unrelated note I am not sure why my twitch stream thread was deleted
-
DacianDraco
- Posts: 461
- Joined: 30 Aug, 2015 4:04
- Location: Cybertron
@Samson Relax, you weren't banned or anything. There was a problem with the forum host and the last backup was 15 feb, so the forum reverted to that date, everything since then was lost, your topic, your account and everything else from all other users as well. You can check for yourself and see that besides today that's the last day anyone posted. Also Noktis (admin) is away for a few days, he doesn't even know this happened and never does what you imply anyway, also no one else has forum privileges to do anything.
And BTW you had 3 replies about Gam'ar before it was lost, i can retype mine here but you can also make a new topic or just post here whenever you want, i doesn't really matter, it's not a problem you think it is.
Anyway, everyone thinks Ga'mar is too strong at first, but you can overcome him, it's just a checker so you know what to expect from Diablo himself. And the other 2 generals go down in difficulty, so that you don't have to gradually get better at beating them one by one, if you beat Gam'ar you'll more easily beat the others and are ready to face Diablo. It is this way also to prevent overfarming them, if you had to beat the generals the other way around, from weakest to strongest, everyone would just beat Benedict and reroll. Now, his element is Magic, so he is immune to it (no Bone Spirit) and does a lot of magic dmg with his spells (especially that Arcane Nova that can multihit) but with some +Max Magic Resist, +Life, -20-30 DFE and Life Leech you can tank him quite well and his minions are good to leech from. You may not have the tanking power at this time so i'd suggest a safer but tedious way to fight him. First be sure to clear all rooms (except S room, you can always leave that one untouched because when Diablo spawns in there he dispels everyone) so you have a lot of space to retreat to if needed. Before stepping on the last stone drink all 4 elixirs, summon some Guardians and after you step on the stone summon a Golem behind him so Gam'ar turns and goes into melee with him, have Maleficent Strike on LMB and Stealth on RMB, cast Stealth, hit his back one time only with Maleficent Strike for extra dmg then immediately turn away and run for a couple of sec, get behind one of his corner walls out of his direct sight, recast Stealth and repeat. You could also buff with Insanity and Sacrifice before you go into Stealth for more damage, just be sure to drink a potion when Insanity runs out, to counter the negative life regen. Also if his room gets too crowded and his minions screw with you, Teleport over the wall in middle corridor, he will follow you there because he has a starter AI but his minions won't, so basically move to other rooms and again use walls and Stealt+Maleficent Strike directly on his back. It is slow but it's safe if you can't tank him.
@pocket951 Make a new topic, unfortunately it was lost along with everything else because the forum reverted to it's last backup.
And BTW you had 3 replies about Gam'ar before it was lost, i can retype mine here but you can also make a new topic or just post here whenever you want, i doesn't really matter, it's not a problem you think it is.
Anyway, everyone thinks Ga'mar is too strong at first, but you can overcome him, it's just a checker so you know what to expect from Diablo himself. And the other 2 generals go down in difficulty, so that you don't have to gradually get better at beating them one by one, if you beat Gam'ar you'll more easily beat the others and are ready to face Diablo. It is this way also to prevent overfarming them, if you had to beat the generals the other way around, from weakest to strongest, everyone would just beat Benedict and reroll. Now, his element is Magic, so he is immune to it (no Bone Spirit) and does a lot of magic dmg with his spells (especially that Arcane Nova that can multihit) but with some +Max Magic Resist, +Life, -20-30 DFE and Life Leech you can tank him quite well and his minions are good to leech from. You may not have the tanking power at this time so i'd suggest a safer but tedious way to fight him. First be sure to clear all rooms (except S room, you can always leave that one untouched because when Diablo spawns in there he dispels everyone) so you have a lot of space to retreat to if needed. Before stepping on the last stone drink all 4 elixirs, summon some Guardians and after you step on the stone summon a Golem behind him so Gam'ar turns and goes into melee with him, have Maleficent Strike on LMB and Stealth on RMB, cast Stealth, hit his back one time only with Maleficent Strike for extra dmg then immediately turn away and run for a couple of sec, get behind one of his corner walls out of his direct sight, recast Stealth and repeat. You could also buff with Insanity and Sacrifice before you go into Stealth for more damage, just be sure to drink a potion when Insanity runs out, to counter the negative life regen. Also if his room gets too crowded and his minions screw with you, Teleport over the wall in middle corridor, he will follow you there because he has a starter AI but his minions won't, so basically move to other rooms and again use walls and Stealt+Maleficent Strike directly on his back. It is slow but it's safe if you can't tank him.
@pocket951 Make a new topic, unfortunately it was lost along with everything else because the forum reverted to it's last backup.
Ah, well, that's a relief ^_^" I might've overreacted a little, but it seemed like the only logical explanation.
I suppose I could try the Golem distraction and backstab technique...Although, if he hits me even once, I'm dead
I still can't Teleport, however, so that's off the table. Guardians would be fine, however...
I suppose I could try the Golem distraction and backstab technique...Although, if he hits me even once, I'm dead
I still can't Teleport, however, so that's off the table. Guardians would be fine, however...Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 21 guests