Diablo® III

As all damage in Diablo 3 is based on weapon damge, and MW gives a +10% bonus and lasts FIVE MINUTES, is there anything to stop Wizards from putting it on their hotbar, casting it, replacing it on their hotbar with something else, then repeating every five minutes to get an effectively permanent +10% passive without sacrificing a skill slot?

I haven't read anything about switching skills canceling skill effects, just triggering a 30-second cooldown before you can use the slot again. So you could do it in between fights. Wouldn't even be that unbalanced as it requires periodic busywork and it's kind of in keeping with the Wizards tradition of precombat buffing.

Apologies if this was already obvious.

The Nephalem Valor buff.

As all damage in Diablo 3 is based on weapon damge, and MW gives a +10% bonus and lasts FIVE MINUTES, is there anything to stop Wizards from putting it on their hotbar, casting it, replacing it on their hotbar with something else, then repeating every five minutes to get an effectively permanent +10% passive without sacrificing a skill slot?

I haven't read anything about switching skills canceling skill effects, just triggering a 30-second cooldown before you can use the slot again. So you could do it in between fights. Wouldn't even be that unbalanced as it requires periodic busywork and it's kind of in keeping with the Wizards tradition of precombat buffing.

Apologies if this was already obvious.

Hasn't been able to be tested but I don't think you will be able to do that, it will most likely cancel the moment you change skills.

You could argue the same thing about armor spells then, but no - when u swap skills it cancels its effect.

also its a 5second CD to swap skills (unless im wrong and that was only for the beta), and not 30 anymore.

Then it sounds like they covered this, and that Magic Weapon really needs a buff. :D

01/05/2012 09:48Posted by Mitzy

You could argue the same thing about armor spells then

The difference is/was that armor spells only last 120 seconds, so with a 30 second cool down you couldn't cast them, dehotkey them and then run around with them active for another 4:30.

Hello.

Attention: If you drop a skill from your selection every effect it has on you gets canceled. Easiest way to test for was mantras. It is confirmed. Also you can only drop a skill when it is off CD to prevent swapping from high CD skills like mad.

Discussion over.

The thing stopping you is. If you cast an ability and remove it from your bar, you losse it, for the same reason you cant use an armor and then change it for something like teleport.

Stupid new-fangled magic systems. When I was a lad, the duration of a spell effect meant the amount of time it would last, and we went about exploiting it like God intended.

01/05/2012 09:40Posted by Slai

The Nephalem Valor buff.

You should look that up OP. Even if the buff stacks, this is the real reason why you should not do it.

I did. The Nephalem buff is supposedly going to have a duration. You could simply not swap out runes or skills until after it expired, then continue as normal.

It also wouldn't prevent changing runes during a big fight if you discover that a rare or champion (which will give the Valor buff when you kill it but hasn't yet as it iis still alive) is more vulnerable to a particular damage type, for example. This is IMHO exactly how it should be. Rares and Champions will be randomly generated content so it won't be possible to farm them by developing a customised build - there should however be at least SOME room for adapting how you play on the fly to overcome a specific threat.

The issue of swapping skills is a big deal for me because flexibility and preparedness have "traditionally" been part of what wizards do in RPGs. With only 6 skills slots to play with some of that is going to be lost but it doesn't seem that I'm going to be stuck using one set of powers for an entire gaming session just because lolBlizzard.

I did. The Nephalem buff is supposedly going to have a duration. You could simply not swap out runes or skills until after it expired, then continue as normal.

It also wouldn't prevent changing runes during a big fight if you discover that a rare or champion (which will give the Valor buff when you kill it but hasn't yet as it iis still alive) is more vulnerable to a particular damage type, for example. This is IMHO exactly how it should be. Rares and Champions will be randomly generated content so it won't be possible to farm them by developing a customised build - there should however be at least SOME room for adapting how you play on the fly to overcome a specific threat.

The issue of swapping skills is a big deal for me because flexibility and preparedness have "traditionally" been part of what wizards do in RPGs. With only 6 skills slots to play with some of that is going to be lost but it doesn't seem that I'm going to be stuck using one set of powers for an entire gaming session just because lolBlizzard.

-The only duration about the buff I ever heard about was that it ends when you change you skills, leave a game, possibly death (though only heard this in an old video it's possible they dropped that.)
-They don't want you to change your spec, they want you to stick to it... other wise everysingle characters are the exact same...
-Yeah realistically speaking how many skills total did you use with a wizard in diablo II ???

Also there won't be any immune monsters anymore. So a certain spec will help you do the whole game.

http://www.diabloiiiblog.com/news/how-the-nephalem-valor-buff-is-likely-to-work-in-diablo-iii/

Bashiok referencing that they were "messing with times from about 15 minutes to an hour".

A general buff to MF/GF would need a time duration. as otherwise people would leave their computers on permanently with a macro running to keep them connected to Battlenet, so the buff would never vanish and would keep stacking on itself the more rares/champions they killed. Even discounting cheaters, magic and gold are going to have potential cash value in the RMAH; they'll never let players keep an absolute bonus to it indefinitely.

01/05/2012 22:46Posted by Stampy

other wise everysingle characters are the exact same...

There'll probably wind up being builds that are regarded as the best just because of groupthink. People like to compare what they're doing to other people and will take the advice they're given if it seems to be popularly agreed upon.

01/05/2012 22:46Posted by Stampy

Also there won't be any immune monsters anymore. So a certain spec will help you do the whole game.

Didn't know that, but it's not that relevant to what I'm saying unless monsters have even resists across all damage types. My interest is in the potential tactical advantage of using more than 6 skills, not in forcing everyone to play like that.

01/05/2012 22:46Posted by Stampy

-Yeah realistically speaking how many skills total did you use with a wizard in diablo II ???

What's Diablo 2? I'm talking about D&D, brah!

A general buff to MF/GF would need a time duration. as otherwise people would leave their computers on permanently with a macro running to keep them connected to Battlenet, so the buff would never vanish and would keep stacking on itself the more rares/champions they killed.

But each game only has a finite ammount of mobs anyways, and the buff I assume only stays within a single act? So it would very much be a finite ammount of gain from it in any case.

This timing stuff really adds a layer of "having to rush through"... Im more of a careful player, I like to take my time when I play. This feels like a layer of stress, really. I cant NOT use the NV buff, but it sounds stressful to use if its on such a short cooldown. Its like the +exp shrines...

I really hope they dont put a timer on it... or if they do, that its adequate to actually finishing entire acts with it.