XP Bonus Alert

Season's Greetings

Paragon Levels 310-334

Massacre

What a Treasure Pygmies massacre site looks like.

BORED

Come ON, Blizzard, come up with Season 2 already because I'm so stone cold BORED. I mean, Season 1 has gone on long ENOUGH. I was playing the other day and my eyes suddenly glazed over and my character died. I didn't care. I just exited the game. Could it be I'm finally, completely bored with the game? I did try the new 2.1.2 patch on the PTR, but it's just more of the same. I easily got bored with that as soon as the community buff wore off. As in I stopped cold when that buff went off line. I wasn't having fun anymore.

Right now I'm playing something else. Hey, I'm actually playing DRAKENSANG again!

Playing Patch 2.12 on the PTR

I couldn't wait for the patch to go live so I tried it on Blizzard's Public Beta Testing System, PTR. I've had to redownload the game, but it was worth it! To fully test the system, they allowed ridiculous boosts to the bonus features:

And because of this, look at this! The inventory below is the result of just ONE Nephalem Rift on Torment 3:

Holy crap, right? I mean, sure...my character and all these items will be deleted when the patch goes live but, in the meantime, I'm having LOTS of fun!

SALE! SALE! SALE!

This week only: save 50% on Diablo III and Reaper of Souls! Click here.

Paragon Level 302-309

Silly me, I forgot to hit the screenshot button when I leveled up in 306 and 307.

100M of Gold

This is the first time I've ever gone past 100M of gold!

I've been spending my hoard perfecting my gems and thus only went as far as 20M at any given time. However, after acquiring The Boon of the Hoarder from the Vault, my fortunes have changed for the better.

Of course, opportunities such as the screenshot below also helps a lot.

Screenshots from The Vault

Screenshots from my adventure in the Treasure Pygmy's Vault.

Getting Ready to Level-up my Legendary Gems

Legendary Gems

So, I've reached Paragon Level 301.

After much consultation with fellow D3 Addicts, Gerry and Aldwin I've picked two gems from my legendary stock - the Wreath of Lightning and the Boon of the Hoarder and installed it on a couple of rings I've been saving for just this occasion.

I actually had to sacrifice a little over 200,000 worth of DPS (from 1,650,000+ to 1,450,000+) to be able to use these babies but it's totally worth it, especially with the Boon. I'll never have to worry about money ever again!

I'm currently working on upgrading and perfecting these gems but I'm already thinking of adding a third Legendary Gem to the mix, this time for an amulet.

Any suggestions?

The Vault is the Gift that Keeps on Giving

A nice little Legendary Gem I got after killing Greed from The Vault is this "Boon of the Hoarder". At rank 12, it gives 43% chance on killing an enemy to cause an explosion of gold. At first it didn't seem like much, but when I tried it, it was amazing. When it said "explosion of gold" it wasn't kidding! At 43%, nearly half of monsters I kill give up an incredible amount of gold.

Here's what gold I got from simply finishing a cursed chest bounty:

I got around 650 thousand gold from this!

A typical Torment 1 run on a Nephalem Rift gives me anywhere from 1-3 million gold!

300 at Last!

I've been busting my ass (whenever I have free time that is) to level up my character to be able to play more comfortably and competitively on Public Games on Torment Level 4.

I've finally reached Paragon Level 300 earlier today and I've got a new Paragon Portrait for my troubles!

Going to spend next week participating in Torment 4 Public Games and maybe see if I'm strong enough to survive Torment 5.

Paragon Level 286-293

My Top 4 Albums to Listen to while Playing Diablo

I believe that a good soundtrack is absolutely essential when playing any game, especially Diablo.

While I personally think the people behind the music of the game has done an outstanding job, I like to play something else from time to time, especially on late night adventures. Various types of music give the game a different feel and enhance the overall game experience for me.

Here are my top 4 favorite albums to listen to while playing Diablo: Reaper of Souls.

One X by Three Days Grace

One-X is the second album by the Canadian alternative metal band Three Days Grace but the first one to feature lead guitarist Barry Stock who took over lead guitar from lead singer Adam Gontier. Three Days Grace’s One-X is my absolute favorite album to listen to (thus far) when playing. It’s particularly apt when “Pain” comes up in the middle of a battle with a particularly challenging group of Elites.



Greatest Hits by Queen

Queen has been provided music for movies such as Flash Gordon and The Highlander to great effect and I find that they do the same when playing. Their single “Don’t Stop Me Now” is a riot going through a gauntlet of monsters but “Princes of the Universe” is priceless when facing down a boss (except when you’re losing that is). It’s funny when you’re fighting and “Fat Bottomed Girls” start to play though.



Metallica by Metallica

Imagine this: you’re faced with a horde of monsters and several elites with overwhelming odds stacked against you and your resources are running low. There’s no other recourse but to fight but just as you’re about to engage the enemies “Enter Sandman” starts playing. You’re going to die, there’s no doubt about it but you’re going to take as many of them with you before you bite the dust.



Conan the Barbarian Soundtrack

The musical score of Conan the Barbarian was composed and conducted by Basil Poledouris, and it was performed by members of The Orchestra and Chorus of Santa Cecilia and The Radio Symphony of Rome. Nothing inspires you before you head on to the battlefields quite like the “Anvil of Crom” complete with Mako saying, “Let me tell you of the days of high adventure!”



Who do you listen to when playing?

I Found the Treasure Pygmy's Vault!

In earlier versions of Diablo 3, I often speculated where those pesky treasure pygmies go when they escape into their portals. Why couldn't we follow? What wonders can be found there? In the latest patch, they finally show us exactly what lies behind those portals! In rare instances upon killing a treasure pygmy, such a portal would open to the "Vault". After killing so many of these pygmies, a vault finally opens! And holy SHIT!

There's practically treasure everywhere! Break open vases and they yield no less than a million gold. And vases are all over the place! There are new monsters here, but they look like modified versions of familiar monsters and were easy enough to dispatch.

The area is a relatively large one, and at the end of it is an "Inner Sanctum" which holds a new boss named "GREED".

Greed's behavior is similar to The Butcher and with a simple strategy, she can easily be dodged and defeated. Just watch out for large treasure chests that fall from the ceiling. They can cause much damage to you if you get hit multiple times.

And upon defeating Greed, a large treasure chest with fangs appears and eats Greed. An explosion of gold and stash follows! And it's incredible. At least three legendary items! All in all, I got around at the very least 20 million in gold!

Best Amulet EVER

I've stumbled on what may well be THE BEST AMULET EVER. Check out this awesome stat; "Prevent all Arcane damage taken and heal yourself for 24% of the amount prevented." Holy crap, isn't that amazing?

Arcane damage is something I've always dreaded when playing Diablo. Now Arcane is my friend. I look forward to it. Not only does it NOT damage me, it actually heals me! So yeah! Bring the Arcane on!!

Here I am, just chillen' with my best buds, Arcane damage.

Paragon Level 282-284

I've been busy as of late but managed to level up to Paragon Level 284. I hope to be able to play in Torment VI mode before the year ends without dying in the first five minutes.

Paragon Level 280

Rainbow Goblin

Playing Seasons mode as a Demon Hunter when I encountered a Rainbow Goblin.

I killed it, got a bunch of loot, and it also opened up a portal to a colorful dimension.

Given the environment, the blood bothered me somewhat here.

Paragon Level 272

The Highest so FAR!

Levelling-up

I levelled-up four times today, public game mode. Awesome!

Maddening Land

I thought it was going to be another day adventuring as a Crusader.

When I happened upon...Maddening Land!

Even the map was screwy.

I was thinking the unicorns were going to be there but there were just the usual enemies. Oh well!

The Gift

Odds and Ends

I sold my Cartographer's Toolkit which was going for 50,000 gold.

This item was part of the legendary crafting materials which were removed from the game in patch 2.0.6 in June 2014.

It doesn't have any use anymore according to the Diablo III Wiki (click here) and I can use the gold, perfecting gems (my old obsession).

The most gold I had at any given time was around 20,000,000 but I squandered it all away most on combining gems.

I just can't help myself. They're so nice and shiny!

Also got a Keystone of Trials from one of my adventures enabling me to teleport to the Realm of Trials.

The Realm of Trials is an area where players fight waves of monsters to earn higher level Greater Rift Keys.

I tried going at it solo and died at around wave 19. It should be more fun with a group.

This is only found in Adventure Mode in Reaper of Souls or the Ultimate Evil Edition.

Ans speaking of Greater Rift Keys...

I got one!

Higher level Greater Rift Keystones, enables players to start in higher level Greater Rifts.

Wave after wave of monsters spawn attack you with each wave tougher than the one before.

This process continues until you're unable to finish a wave within the time limit.

Don't forget though: there is also no way to respec your skills or change around equipment while in a Trial.

I might try a different build next time and see what happens.

Rainbow Unicorns

First it was Cuddle Bears and now it's Rainbow Unicorns!

My Crusader

It's official: my Crusader has overtaken my Barbarian in terms of the damage he can dish out (currently at around 1,070,000). Gave him a new set of threads via transmogrification to celebrate his new status as Alpha Male.

Adventuring in Public

I've been playing in adventure mode in public games for the past few weeks or so and it's just crazy!

I stayed at Torment Level III play ground and only just recently went up to Torment Level IV. I level up every 20-30 minutes of playing though it's mostly my party mates who do most of the killing, to be quite frank. I'm already at Paragon Level 211 but most of the guys and gals I get teamed up with are already at the 300-400 mark which is insane.

I just do my best but with all the action happening I can't even tell where everything is!

On other news, my Crusader has already overtake my Barbarian in terms of damage capability so it looks like he's going to replace the old man as my main character for Adventure Mode soon.

How're you guys doing with your builds so far?

Cuddle Bears

I usually adventure solo but I tried opening a public game just to see how it goes. I joined a random rag-tag band of warriors, got transported somewhere, and started fighting...

Are those teddy bears!?

Apparently they are.

Paragon Level 200

I finally reached Paragon Level 200!

The Bottomless Potion of Mutilation

I was playing the other night and one of the monsters I killed dropped a Bottomless Potion of Mutilation. According to the Diablo III Game Guide the potion instantly restores 60% life and
increases life per kill by 4000–8000 for 5 seconds.

Apparently, aside from the Health Potion, there's a whole variety of potions out there now.

Bottomless Potion of Kulle-Aid
Bottomless Potion of Mutilation
Bottomless Potion of Regeneration
Bottomless Potion of the Diamond
Bottomless Potion of the Leech
Bottomless Potion of the Tower

Haven't had the chance to use it. Frankly I'm worried I won't see one again so I'm keeping it until I get new ones (or one of the others, whichever comes first).

Barbarian Level 70, Paragon Level 191

I've been thoroughly enjoying Reaper of Souls, so much so that I've skipped posting here for some time (sorry, guys) and just concentrated on leveling-up my barbarian character. As you can see from the screenshot below, I've been spending quite some time transmogrifying and buying up dyes making sure everything's coordinated and shit.

Right now my barbarian is the most powerful (i.e., the one able to dish out the most damage) among my characters but I have a feeling that my crusader is going to overtake him really fast (at least until he levels up to 70 - just 2 more levels to go). Also, he's the sugar daddy of the bunch, the one tasked to make the most money for spending by the group.

I've given him some rest in the last couple of weeks however, preferring to adventure with my crusader and exploring his different abilities. I'll be getting him back on track soon enough though as the barbarian is my favorite class. I'm currently playing at Torment II but I hope to progress to Torment III as soon as I reach Paragon Level 200 or perfect my gems, whichever comes first.

How're you guys doing with your characters so far?