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[Xcell Miguel]

One nice thing about being on Game Pass is that you get 20% discount on anything, so the upcoming expansion should cost a bit less, and Platinum is account wide so you can buy it cheaper on Xbox and use it on PC to get Battle Passes.

Also, as your characters are linked to your BattleNet account, you can play either version with your characters, too bad it's not on xCloud (yet ?).

 

[Jesb]

I finally was able to set this up on GFN last night and played the game for about an hour or so. Leveled up to 5 so far. My first ever Diablo experience and it feels like it’s an ok game. I feel like the whole game is kind of press a to win. Not really seeing much of a challenge so far. The interface isn’t as friendly as an interface as other rpg’s I’ve played. It took me some time to even figure out where I upgrade skills. Graphics is not really blowing me away but I’m very early in.

Any advise you guys have for first time players?

 

[amigastar]

I finally was able to set this up on GFN last night and played the game for about an hour or so. Leveled up to 5 so far. My first ever Diablo experience and it feels like it’s an ok game. I feel like the whole game is kind of press a to win. Not really seeing much of a challenge so far. The interface isn’t as friendly as an interface as other rpg’s I’ve played. It took me some time to even figure out where I upgrade skills. Graphics is not really blowing me away but I’m very early in.

Any advise you guys have for first time players?

When there's somethin i will Diablo 4 give credit are the graphics. They look really awesome to me.

 

[cormack12]

I finally was able to set this up on GFN last night and played the game for about an hour or so. Leveled up to 5 so far. My first ever Diablo experience and it feels like it’s an ok game. I feel like the whole game is kind of press a to win. Not really seeing much of a challenge so far. The interface isn’t as friendly as an interface as other rpg’s I’ve played. It took me some time to even figure out where I upgrade skills. Graphics is not really blowing me away but I’m very early in.

Any advise you guys have for first time players?

Don't worry about difficulty until you're hitting about level 50. You'll get gear/dmg checks in the capstone dungeons.

When you get to nightmare dungeons, use this:

Idle Animation

Diablo 4 Nightmare Dungeon Calculator This calculator helps you to determine the Bonus Percentage and Dungeon Tier basedon your character level. Character Level

idleanimation.com

Generally dungeons at your level are relatively straightforward, you push the level out as much as you can handle/speedfarm.

If you plan on playing long term, take the time to get all the lilith altars.

 

[amigastar]

PTR for Season 4 is up.
Does anyone know how the drop rate in the PTR is, like base game or more often?

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

PTR for Season 4 is up.
Does anyone know how the drop rate in the PTR is, like base game or more often?

The PTR should have lower drop rates anyway (if the loot changes are live on the PTR). They mentioned making the drops much more "meaningful" and reducing the amount of VT loot that drops.

So overall there should be less drops but they should be better.

 

[amigastar]

The PTR should have lower drop rates anyway (if the loot changes are live on the PTR). They mentioned making the drops much more "meaningful" and reducing the amount of VT loot that drops.

So overall there should be less drops but they should be better.

Alright, cool, i'm asking because PTR did have usually 2-3x drop rate and i don't want to play with increased drop rate so i hope its like in base game.

 

[Xcell Miguel]

Alright, cool, i'm asking because PTR did have usually 2-3x drop rate and i don't want to play with increased drop rate so i hope its like in base game.

Legendary drop rate is doubled on the PTR, full notes here :

The Diablo IV Season 4 PTR: What You Need to Know

Test our revamped itemization, class updates, new and updated endgame systems, and more, from April 2 through April 9.

news.blizzard.com

 

[amigastar]

Legendary drop rate is doubled on the PTR, full notes here :

The Diablo IV Season 4 PTR: What You Need to Know

Test our revamped itemization, class updates, new and updated endgame systems, and more, from April 2 through April 9.

news.blizzard.com

Ok, thanks, seems like i will wait for the final version then.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

One nice thing about being on Game Pass is that you get 20% discount on anything, so the upcoming expansion should cost a bit less, and Platinum is account wide so you can buy it cheaper on Xbox and use it on PC to get Battle Passes.

Also, as your characters are linked to your BattleNet account, you can play either version with your characters, too bad it's not on xCloud (yet ?).

Didn't realise it had cross progression, I didn't see a play anywhere tag in the store so I assumed they were separate versions, nice to know I continue on PC.

 

[Xcell Miguel]

Didn't realise it had cross progression, I didn't see a play anywhere tag in the store so I assumed they were separate versions, nice to know I continue on PC.

Many games are not "Play Anywhere" and are cross-save.
Play Anywhere is more like "buy once on a platform, play on any supported platform" (mostly PC and Xbox).
Some games just need "cloud saves" and are cross-save, but Diablo is different, it's tied to your BattleNet account, so it's the account that makes it cross-save, I noticed that during the beta before launch when I played on Xbox ant then wanted to see how it ran on PC, I had my same character.
Same with recent Ubisoft games on PC, Xbox and PS with your Ubisoft account, or Cyberpunk and Witcher 3 with your GOG account.

 

[Hot5pur]

Tried the PTR
There is just something really boring about this game
Everything blends together, the background, the enemies, just feels soulless.
The campaign was decent since at least there were some characters and the occasional interesting boss.
On the other hand last epoch, even though much lower in production value, it just energized me to play and brainstorm builds. Diablo 4 literally puts me to sleep.

 

[amigastar]

Seeing the positive feedback for the new itemization we can probably agree that Vanilla D4 was overrated at the beginning and Last Epoch is underrated at the same time.
I just can't believe Last Epoch is a 76 or something while D4 was a 91 if we go the Metacritic route.

 

[Rentahamster]

I only put in about 5 hours into the PTR, but it seemed pretty decent. I'll be sure to check out Season 4.

 

[Rentahamster]

Miyazaki’s Slave I'll see you in hell with that dumbass Inarius!

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

Miyazaki’s Slave I'll see you in hell with that dumbass Inarius!

Oh most def my friend!

 

[DavidGzz]

Seeing the positive feedback for the new itemization we can probably agree that Vanilla D4 was overrated at the beginning and Last Epoch is underrated at the same time.
I just can't believe Last Epoch is a 76 or something while D4 was a 91 if we go the Metacritic route.

That's accurate to me. Campaign wise. It's the addictive end game that was lacking in D4. Reviews on Meta don't have time to test the end game. Last Epoch is mediocre in all areas(even end game is ho-hum) but since it's an Indy game versus a game with Blizzard money behind it, people will defend the little guy while tearing the big guy up. It happens all the time.

 

[sankt-Antonio]

Seeing the positive feedback for the new itemization we can probably agree that Vanilla D4 was overrated at the beginning and Last Epoch is underrated at the same time.
I just can't believe Last Epoch is a 76 or something while D4 was a 91 if we go the Metacritic route.

That 91MC was bought in one way or the other. "You won't get access to future Activision / Xbox games if your reviews aren't aligning with our marketing strategies" etc.
There is just no way for it to be a 91. Game was shit start to finish.

 

[dreamstation]

Seeing the positive feedback for the new itemization we can probably agree that Vanilla D4 was overrated at the beginning and Last Epoch is underrated at the same time.
I just can't believe Last Epoch is a 76 or something while D4 was a 91 if we go the Metacritic route.

Yea Last Epoch is hugely underrated. It reminds me a lot of farming D2 back in the day. Just pure fun, no bullshit.

 

[Zheph]

Last Epoch is also overrated imo but yeah D4 has/had huge flaws, S4 looks promising

 

[Hot5pur]

That's accurate to me. Campaign wise. It's the addictive end game that was lacking in D4. Reviews on Meta don't have time to test the end game. Last Epoch is mediocre in all areas(even end game is ho-hum) but since it's an Indy game versus a game with Blizzard money behind it, people will defend the little guy while tearing the big guy up. It happens all the time.

I got way too triggered by your comment...
That characterization is hugely unfair.
Last epoch is mediocre in terms of story and production values (VA, some of the design and graphics).
But it is absolutely incredible in terms of:
- itemisation
- build variety
- skill system
- crafting system

The core of the game is so good that Blizzard even decided to copy aspects of it. I suppose the above characterization is my own opinion but I think you can make a strong objective case for many of these points.

 

[DavidGzz]

I got way too triggered by your comment...
That characterization is hugely unfair.
Last epoch is mediocre in terms of story and production values (VA, some of the design and graphics).
But it is absolutely incredible in terms of:
- itemisation
- build variety
- skill system
- crafting system

The core of the game is so good that Blizzard even decided to copy aspects of it. I suppose the above characterization is my own opinion but I think you can make a strong objective case for many of these points.

Sure, and it all amounted to about 100 hours of gameplay for me. It was fun for a while. Even the biggest ARPG players/streamers dropped it after a few dozen hours of end game. It's lacking that hook in the end. So it's a great first attempt but it's not like it came out of nowhere. It was in early access for 5 years and is still not amazing. I'd still put Grim Dawn above it and even that game is a 7.5/10.

At the end of the day, gameplay is king and is what keeps me playing. D3 and D4 have the best feeling gameplay. Looks like PoE 2 is the only thing that may up the ante in that regard. I love that it works like a twin stick shooter.

 

[iQuasarLV]

Sure, and it all amounted to about 100 hours of gameplay for me. It was fun for a while. Even the biggest ARPG players/streamers dropped it after a few dozen hours of end game. It's lacking that hook in the end. So it's a great first attempt but it's not like it came out of nowhere. It was in early access for 5 years and is still not amazing. I'd still put Grim Dawn above it and even that game is a 7.5/10.

At the end of the day, gameplay is king and is what keeps me playing. D3 and D4 have the best feeling gameplay. Looks like PoE 2 is the only thing that may up the ante in that regard. I love that it works like a twin stick shooter.

Grim Dawn release: 2016
Grim Dawn pre-cursor: Titan Quest 2006
Grim Dawn Legacy of Development? 18 years
Budget?
How many developers on project?

Diablo IV release: 2023
Diablo IV pre-cursor: Diablo 1997
Diablo IV Legacy of Development: 27 years
Budget?
How many developers on project?

Path of Exile release: 2013
Path of Exile pre-cursor: none?
Path of Exile Legacy of Development: 11 years
Budget?
How many developers on project?

Last Epoch release: 2024
Last Epoch pre-cursor: none. Early access 2019
Last Epoch Legacy of Development: 5 years
Burdget?
How many developers on project? 11 start ~50-75 at launch

If we are going to judge what we get out of products versus the competition then we might as well set the table for how much more resources and established IP the competition has before dismissing a product for its lack of "features." And those streamers still pick up Last Epoch when the competition's quarterly content gets stale. That says something. Point is do not dismiss a product for lack of gameplay content when it has done a lot right.

1. The price is $35 for a 100+ hour launch game.
2. No considerable micro transactions locking out QOL game features such as stash tabs.
3. The developers are fans of the Arpg genre, work with the community actively, and not corporate shills just blowing smoke up our asses to get a little more time with their product.

The product is a healthy addition to the genre as it clearly has altered the landscape moving forward, ala Diablo IV Season 4 changes. The game is clearly underrated for what it has done to the active development of games moving forward. I would not be surprised if POE2 incorporates system ideas LE has introduced as they would clearly see its better system than what they had planned.