Diablo 3 might start off rudimentary but chances are you’ve found out that it doesn’t stay that way. The truth is that Diablo 3 is a very deep game rich with both reward and challenge. In order to conquer the game’s many difficult encounters you’re going to need to take advantage of everything at your disposal. Below we’ve listed several ways you can improve your game and start conquering demons like it’s your job.
Turn on enemy health plates
Many of the most difficult encounters in the game are situations where you are pit against more than one enemy. An enemy with 10% health is as good as one with a full bar, so it’s in your best interest to pick off the enemies who are close to dying. You can turn on enemy name plates to show the health of each enemy above their head and make it easier to acquire near-death targets and finish them off.
Use the environment
Every area in the game has environmental traps whether it is a collapsible tree or a chandelier ready to drop onto a group of zombies. Look out for the opportunity to use the environment and you’ll be rewarded with not only exciting kills, but success at the cost of very few resources.
Build your character for the situation
Each class not only has a variety of skills but several runes that can be equipped to add an alternate property to the ability. If you find yourself in an area that has tons of fast mobs swarming you, equip abilities that do splash damage, stun, and/or snare enemies. If you feel like you aren’t doing enough damage then try playing more aggressively with an offensively-tailored load-out. It’s in your best interest to try out all of the abilities and gain an understanding of where each one is appropriate.
Work on your mouse skills
Diablo 3 gameplay is almost completely driven by the mouse, and the better you are with point-and-click the less you’ll die. Work on your ability to kite, use escape maneuvers in a pinch, and click on enemies as accurately as possible and you’ll experience less frustration.
Don’t vendor all of your items
Items don’t sell for much at a vendor, so you’re going to want to either throw them on the auction house or salvage them. Salvaging is unlocked in the latter half of Act I and allows you to turn armor, weapons, and accessories into crafting items. These crafting items are then used at the blacksmith to create gear at a reasonable cost. If you have higher-quality items such as rares, you’re best off throwing them on the auction house to earn some extra gold.
Stats, stats, and more stats
Armor is helpful but not nearly as beneficial as stats. Once you’re a few quests into the game you’ll begin finding a lot of magic quality items which may have fewer armor than what you have equipped but will have some stats to boost your character’s competence in combat. Depending on your class, you’re going to want to stack a lot of your core stat along with some vitality for survivability in tough situations—no one likes being one-shotted. The core stats along with explanations can be found below:
Strength
All classes: Improves armor
Barbarian: Increases damage
Dexterity
All classes: Improves dodge rating
Demon Hunter and Monk: Increases damage
Intelligence
All classes: Improves elemental resistance
Witch Doctor and Wizard: Increases damage
Vitality
All classes: Increases health points
Pick up health orbs
This one is easy to forget in the heat of battle but can and will make the difference. Health orbs drop regularly off of mobs and when you’re in a tough situation you should look out for one. Don’t hesitate to use one of your evasive maneuvers or speed enhancing abilities to quickly get to one when your health is low. If you’re at full health it’s a good idea to leave them alone so you can run back and pick one up when you need it.
Enable elective mode
By default you’re only allowed to equip one of each skill type, but with elective mode enabled in the gameplay settings you can equip any skill along with a rune in each of the six ability slots. This doesn’t have a big impact until around Act II when you have more abilities, but will allow you to fine tailor your setup and further customize your character for the situations presented.
Gear up
If you run into a lot of trouble chances are your gear could be better. Head to a blacksmith and see if you can craft some upgrades, or head to the auction house and see what’s available. Gear is very important in Diablo 3 and every stat counts.
Bind a key to move
There’s a key binding for ‘move’ in the settings which allows you to simply hover your mouse where you want to go and hold the binded key to move in that direction. You might find that setting up a key binding to move will make you quicker in combat and give your clicking-finger a much-needed rest.
Group up
Diablo III can be played solo but you’re missing out on learning how to work with other people by playing alone. Joining a group increases the difficulty of enemies but in many cases it’s easier to complete quests with others than by yourself.
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