Me, I’m burnt out so am not playing Diablo at the moment with the exception of the inventory game of disposing of useless stuff both in my non-season and season inventories.
I’m bummed out that the Barbarian proposal went nowhere (despite how much thought and professionalism went into it) so I think I’ll play a DH for S18 to just get it done to get the last stash tab.
I’m currently stuck at 224(?) para level on my season specified DH. The seemingly similar items keep dropping.
Am I not playing correctly? I log in. I venture out. I kill things. I adjust difficulty accordingly…, but I keep repeating these and I seem to not gain in progress. Lately, I’ve been logging out after a mere minute of play. Is it boredom?
I do solo. Am I supposed to play in a group? Is that best for leveling? Further, I experienced powerleveling once and I felt dirty just sitting there while the other guy killed things using his one-hit tactics.
That aside, if I get up to take a break, get some water, prepare a quick lunch, or wash my hands after using the facilities, my follower girl calls me “boring.” She say’s I’m such a bore. It makes me not want to get up and take care of my needs. So then I dismiss her but afterwards I realize that her buffs (from items I had given her) are gone… It’s so irritating to say the least.
And why can’t I armor her up? The enchantress complains about her tight fitting clothes. Then, I say, allow me to dress her up according to my preferences! If she’s going to say anything, then enlighten us on the relevant, esoteric history of good and evil since she’s so damn old!
So, in preparation for S18, I will keep my expectations low.
Yeah.
226 paragon is achived solo in1-3 hours after lvl 70
You are using a ranged weapon with the Impale set which works only with melee weapons ‘2 piece set bonus’.
You can get a Karlei’s Point easily by upgrading lvl 70 Rare Daggers in the cube since theres only 2 possible outcome.
Put an Emerald in your weapon,for offhand you can gamble and try to get a Holy Point shot.
Just a few things after a quick glance but you can check full guides on Diablofans or IcyVeins sites.
Also you can just ignore whatever the followers say,they are nothing more than side ‘utility’ when you solo play but its worth to use one.
As for the OP’s question:
Not much preparing since I’m not sure how much time I will have for the next season,conflicting with a new game I already pre ordered.
Did the usual cleaning in NS so that I can threw in the seasonal char’s gear at least.
I never prepare for the new season.
When the Season ends I load up account and dump all the useless crap.
That’s all.
No prep for me. Computer finally come back from service. Played for 30 mins. Computer went back down. Headding back out for service again tomorrow.
Not interested in s18 unless they change how the season buff works.
Noway I’m gonna play season without stashtab to earn.
I have my new stash tab, so I am not doing that much right now. Just cleaning out I few items. I normally do not hold on to a lot of junk in a season so I do not cry about not having stash space. I might organize my non season space, just to make it look better. 
I would think that the updated notes for patch 2.6.6 and the blog on the future of D3 should be posted soon, so I am looking forward to that. 
For season 18 I will stay with a Monk.
This is how I prepared for S18.
Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall > Finish Uninstalling.
Going through trashing stuff at end of season is tedious. Wish they had some routine that made it easier to mass convert to resources, rather then selling, At best you can dump everything in a pile and leave game.
The best part of diablo 3, is Season start first weekend and ending, convert to non-season. Getting your stuff over and complete a non-season character to perfection. That one item you just miss out, but got in season. And of course some better legendaries to play around a LoN build etc. But of course the first few days is all about cleaning up your stash.
After that, to Grift to test out the “new” perfect build…
Before I heard about S18’s additions of crafted sets, changes to legendaries I was planning to delete one of my wizards and re-roll it as season just to get the DMO set. Now I will probably rebirth one of my DH that I will no doubt still use as a farmer for all other class. Farming things like keys, mats, bounties, etc… This is due primarily to Captain Crimson and Squirt’s Necklace.
Farming bounty materials for crafting new legendary power items, I play non season only.
I usually do a few practice runs before the start of the season.
Really, I’m burnt out from Diablo at this point that the only thing that interests me is my improvement upon the first weekend.
This season though, I don’t really feel like starting as a necro, so unless I find a necro who’s willing to practice the leveling portion, I doubt I’ll hit 70 in an hour of season start.
@OP: Season 18? How am I preparing?
Well… Just doing my best to stay healthy. Rest, exercise, diet, cleaning. We all know it’s all going out the window as soon as the season launches. LOL. 
Really sorry to hear that @Lystell.
I see things going better for you when system comes back next time! :)
Any idea of when this season finishes and when s18 starts please?
I’m using the last days of S17 to start a new dh to see if I want to roll one for S18. Pretty much decided I will.