Inferno Difficulty becomes Less Difficult but still a Challenge. Post 1.0.3
Before patch 1.0.3, Act 2 on Inferno was just a huge brick wall. Some would say…
Some players describe that as soon as they transition from Act 1 to 2, they get the feeling that they are punching a wall with their fists. This problem that all classes experienced and especially Barbarians and Monks was addressed in the latest patch with a series of changes to the monsters, bosses and even a damage reduction of enemies throughout the Acts. The entire idea behind these changes is to prevent players from rushing to the Auction House as soon as they finish the first Act. Despite all these changes, Act 1 remained intact. The difficulty of the first Inferno Act is just like it was before the patch.
The entire transitioning process also lead to some gear drop changes. Up till now, players that wanted to prepare for Act 2 had no way to get the proper gear without the Auction House since these higher end items only drop in later Acts. The changes to the gear drops made high-end gear available for players running around in Act 1. This makes it possible to get gear for the next Act by playing the current one.
Also, the changes to the Nephalem Valor made the Inferno farming a less boring and dull routine. Right now, iLvl 61, and 62 can drop in Acts 3 and 4 on Hell. Act 1 Inferno can drop all item levels but the chance increases with the progression.
On the other hand, Bosses have been tuned for a higher difficulty. Some of them had additional skills implemented while others received some damage boosts. Also, all of them have enrage timers as a means to force players into gearing up for fights and balance DPS and survivability.
Melee classes also got a breath of fresh air. Many of the mobs that used to run away now have an improved pathing mechanic. They will run less and on shorter distances. Monks and Barbarians have real problems with these mobs if they do not deal enough damage due to a low DPS.
Crafting and gem combining has also been reduced to stimulate players and craft endgame gear. Up till now, everyone was avoiding the crafting system due to the extreme costs of making items or combining gems. The highest game level in the game costs close to 20 million gold and most endgame players need more than one.
This reduction makes it more viable to combine gems and craft gear as a means to supplement the arsenal of hardcore gamers. In the future, these changes will be complemented by some other changes to the item system.
All the Legendary items, including the craftable ones will have their stats improved. Right now, there are many Rare and Magic items that seem to be better than Legendary items. Even if Blizzard planned to add the changes to these items in patch 1.0.3, it has been postponed for now. It seems that they are still working on how and what to change about these extremely rare items that seem a bit useless at this moment.
Check out the discussion thanks to IGN.
