Solo vs Public difficulty (nightmare and up)

[lockattack]

Getting to nightmare act 1 yesterday i have hit a wall on my barb. I know what i have to do (increase certain stats and use a diff rotation)

im curious. i feel like public groups at this point are much more difficult. i tend to get aggro right away (barbarian) and insta-shotted while the range dps stands back casting in the distance.

Im guessing that if i want to be public i have to basically act as the tank... is this true?





im thinking i may just go solo for the rest of the game and use public groups just for recreation.

[shadowfyre27]

Unless you have a Monk in the grp or another Barb then yes your gonna end up being the tank more or less the ranged dps are doing what they should by standing back and dpsing. As a barb you can take a hit better then the ranged classes imo unless the ranged outgear/out lvl you by a bit.

[Friendlychap]

There is no such thing as tank really, this isn't WoW mate.

I have a 38 barb in half way through nightmare and it's fine for me....you can't play like you're a WoW tank...even as a barbarian you still play like every class plays - a DPS class.

You can't just run up and take hits and stand in fires and expect heals.

You have to dodge/avoid/kite, just like a ranged caster does. You're only having problems because you're not playing how you're supposed to.

[lockattack]

There is no such thing as tank really, this isn't WoW mate.

I have a 38 barb in half way through nightmare and it's fine for me....you can't play like you're a WoW tank...even as a barbarian you still play like every class plays - a DPS class.

You can't just run up and take hits and stand in fires and expect heals.

You have to dodge/avoid/kite, just like a ranged caster does. You're only having problems because you're not playing how you're supposed to.

ok, this is what i needed to hear. i just felt like i was kinda cheating by running away until cds were back up. (kiting) but if that is how the game is meant to be played... the dude shall abide.

[Rugz]

There is no 'way it's meant to be played'. Diablo is all about the end, loot. The means to which you achieve that end are entirely your own.

Kiting
Resist stacking
Graveyard zerging
Stunlocking
Lifesteal/Attack Speed stacking
Split pulling

Whatever works to get you your sweet, sweet affixes.

[Friendlychap]

ok, this is what i needed to hear. i just felt like i was kinda cheating by running away until cds were back up. (kiting) but if that is how the game is meant to be played... the dude shall abide.

Don't worry I am new to diablo also...and I was also playing my barbarian like a "tank"...and going horrible. Then I started playing like I was a dps kiting/dodging/avoiding and everything is smooth sailing now.

[BloodchargedWoW]

@OP

Your gear is probably falling behind if you are struggling with Nightmare. Visit the AH, IMHO there is literally no point crafting BS gear as you waste so much gold just trying to get the right stats on an item. Here is my build I went through Nightmare with...

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...Pki!gcZ!YbbZba

Sure a few of these you won't have access to at the start but it works wonders, only downside is running into champion/rare packs with spells like earthquake on CD lol. Visit the AH though, you can find some REALLY good deals if you keep checking.

[LonestarHero]

I finished off Nightmare last night with my Witch Doctor grouping with randoms. I speculate that the optimal group is 2. I have yet to try it one player with a geared up merc. In the final battle with Diablo it's a ton easier to focus fire 2 doppelgangers versus 3 or 4 doppelgangers.

Now for my advice:

I'm a noob and started NM Act III with ~3500 life. I was getting insta-gibbed as you can well imagine.

When you make the auction house run after completing normal:

DON'T STACK YOUR PRIMARY STAT!

Stack a combination of about half and half vitality and your primary stat. Even if your DPS is lower, the survivability it brings is worth it.

[Deleted]

There is no 'way it's meant to be played'.

I object, Here is "the way Its meant to be played"

Kiting
Resist stacking
Graveyard zerging
Stunlocking
Lifesteal/Attack Speed stacking
Split pulling

Here is what not:

Mindlessly berzerk all the way.

[BloodchargedWoW]

I object, Here is "the way Its meant to be played"

Here is what not:

You can easily mindlessly zerg through Nightmare mode if you have the correct gear. However after you get to Act @ and past that you better be going for more Vitality and a more defensive build setup unless of course your a DH or Wizard in which you can kill anything before it even reaches you.

[Deleted]

You can easily mindlessly zerg through Nightmare mode if you have the correct gear. However after you get to Act @ and past that you better be going for more Vitality and a more defensive build setup unless of course your a DH or Wizard in which you can kill anything before it even reaches you.

It's quite a diffrence between "meant to be" and "do work to some extent".

[Jasyn]

Not sure about others, but I also tend to be a mob magnet in groups (Monk).

I have a ton of Vit and Armor though. 12.5k HP, Act III Nightmare with myself, Wiz and DH. I also self-heal (and group heal) like mad, so all but some of the big guys and certain elites barely hurt me.

Edit - Forgot to note. I've never touched the AH. All my gear is from drops.

[Torched]

Try this build here.



Ive used this build through act3 normal all the way to Inferno.
I use Earthquake instead of seismic slam, it pretty much kills Champion and rare packs in seconds... even in Hell difficulty and has saved my ass so many times in Hell against some insane packs.


Do use this build you have to go into options > Gameplay > Elective Mode. This allows you to sett any skill on any action bar you like.