Gearing a character is easy in D2, what is hard, or more like time consuming, if you actually play the game and not buy your gear off jsp, is completing endgame builds that can have a character solo crushing the game in 8 player difficulty.
What I’m saying is normal quality gear, whether blues (magic), yellows (rares) greens (sets) golds (uniques and rune words) or oranges (crafted) can be used effectively in hell, especially in act 1 hell where awesome exceptional and elite quality gear can be found to help get you to the Throne of Destruction in Act 5. Of course, farming in nightmare is a great way to get great exceptional quality gear, too.
There is a reason D4 is leaning toward D2, it’s because D3 isn’t that good and is hated by most arpg players. PoE came out around the time of D3, and PoE is most like D2 LoD. PoE is crushing D3 and when D3 is 20 years old, more people will be playing D1 than D3. D3 caters to a very select minority group of people in society, and that is fine, but don’t pretend that it is a game that can keep the masses engaged with real complexity and replayability.
TY. I know, many years too late. I’m too accustomed to modern day QoL and improvements to enjoy D1 and 2 anymore. Like I said in a different thread, I have gone back over the years, even tried them with mods, but they just feel awful compared to modern ARPGs not to mention the resolutions, even slightly increased from originals, are a pain on my eyes.
I can understand that. Like I said in my op, I only play D3 a couple of weeks a year, where as I’ve been play D2 LoD almost everyday for 18ish years (no mods or hacks, just a wrapper), so I don’t experience the old-game syndrome that a person would spending a large time away from the game playing modern ones.
Saying most ARPG players hate D3 is almost certainly false. Most ARPG player numerically are casual. Many players who do not play hours per day love D3.
dude i played D2 for years, still playing someties. go and self found the gear for say a “hammerdin build” or a “cold sorc”, now do the same in diablo 3 for any build.
Very subjective question that does not have an answer. Is pizza better than bbq ribs? Is chocolate ice cream better than banana milkshake? Is sex better than peeling the film off your new gadget?
These two games are so vastly different that you can actually enjoy both equally. Each of them has its strong points and focus on different needs. Complexity, darkness, difficulty, fluid gameplay, loot system, etc. whichever weighs more in your taste buds will determine which of the two games will get more of your time.
I don’t understand why people insist on having to pick on a clear winner, but I do suspect that it may be related to that personal need that I too used to have 30-40 years ago, to defend my favorite bands against people with different taste in music
Ashtaroth, you should pick up LoD for $20 (total for D2 and exp) from Bnet if you’ve never played D2. At the least you will have fun for many hours. I’d recommend hc for maximum fun.
Edit: if you do pick it up, I’d recommend looking up a build that interests you at diii net (when it used to be dii net, the old forums and guides are there). Fishy guides are great if you google fishyzon or fishymancer you will find his guide compendium. Meteorb sorcs are nice for untwinked too. Also, the runewords spirit, ancients pledge, rhyme, stealth, lionheart, and smoke are some of my favorites untwinked. Nightmare vendors can sell you an 80+ life magical belt and you are good to go until you find some gear.
