Many people played Diablo 3, and then for whatever reason hit a wall where it was no longer enjoyable. For most, it seems, that wall was Inferno. Back in the day the increase in difficulty when moving to Inferno was so high, people just stopped. But there have been many patches over the time Diablo 3 has been out, which have added some interesting and fun features. If you've been wondering if it's time to come back, here's what you may have missed.
General improvements
First off, and probably most importantly, things have been smoothed out. Some skills that were lacking have been buffed, some that were way overpowered have been scaled back. The difficulty curve when going into Inferno has been adjusted so you don't feel like you're running into a brick wall. Many other things have been adjusted so the game just *feels* better, and it's hard to put my finger on why.
Paragon levels
Unlike Sir Patrick Stewart (http://i.imgur.com/RZk4cX2.jpg) now when you reach max level, you don't stop leveling. On top of the 60 normal levels, there are 100 paragon levels that you can achieve to increase your stats as you work your way through all Inferno has to offer. Each level gives you 3 of your primary stat, 2 vitality, and 1 of each other main stat. In addition, you gain 3% gold find and magic find. You'll gradually get stronger and tougher, and pick up more fun stuff as you farm Inferno.
More about Paragon Levels: http://www.diablowiki.net/Paragon
Monster Power
If you want more of a challenge than what the base difficulty gives, you can increase the Monster Power up to 10. Each level of Monster Power makes the enemies a little stronger, but gives you more experience, magic and gold find, and fun. In Inferno, playing at MP1 or above greatly increases the density of enemies in a level, which can lead to some seriously badass fights.
More about Monster Power: http://www.diablowiki.net/Monster_Power
Keywardens, the Infernal Machine and the Hellfire Ring
There's a new enemy type called Keywardens, and one appears in each act. The first three have a chance to drop a different key, and the Act 4 Keywarden drops the plan for the infernal machine. Once you get one of each key and teach your blacksmith how to make it, you can have him make you an Infernal Machine.
The Infernal Machine will take you to a different realm where you fight buffed versions of bosses that appear elsewhere in the game, two at a time. Again, there are three sets, and each set has a chance to drop a different item that you'll need to take to your jeweler to have him make the Hellfire Ring. You can choose the main stat, and it gets other random rolls.
This may seem like a lot to do for a single item, but this isn't just another legendary. This ring gives you a significant boost to experience and has a chance to spawn a fireball.
More about keywardens and the ring: http://www.diablowiki.net/Hellfire_Ring
So if you haven't played in a while, and especially if you have a level 60 you abandoned because Inferno just wasn't fun, you should definitely give it another shot. If you liked the mechanics but felt like the game wasn't scaled well or didn't give you enough fun things to do, the team has made some changes that make it far more fun and worth your time.
General improvements
First off, and probably most importantly, things have been smoothed out. Some skills that were lacking have been buffed, some that were way overpowered have been scaled back. The difficulty curve when going into Inferno has been adjusted so you don't feel like you're running into a brick wall. Many other things have been adjusted so the game just *feels* better, and it's hard to put my finger on why.
Paragon levels
Unlike Sir Patrick Stewart (http://i.imgur.com/RZk4cX2.jpg) now when you reach max level, you don't stop leveling. On top of the 60 normal levels, there are 100 paragon levels that you can achieve to increase your stats as you work your way through all Inferno has to offer. Each level gives you 3 of your primary stat, 2 vitality, and 1 of each other main stat. In addition, you gain 3% gold find and magic find. You'll gradually get stronger and tougher, and pick up more fun stuff as you farm Inferno.
More about Paragon Levels: http://www.diablowiki.net/Paragon
Monster Power
If you want more of a challenge than what the base difficulty gives, you can increase the Monster Power up to 10. Each level of Monster Power makes the enemies a little stronger, but gives you more experience, magic and gold find, and fun. In Inferno, playing at MP1 or above greatly increases the density of enemies in a level, which can lead to some seriously badass fights.
More about Monster Power: http://www.diablowiki.net/Monster_Power
Keywardens, the Infernal Machine and the Hellfire Ring
There's a new enemy type called Keywardens, and one appears in each act. The first three have a chance to drop a different key, and the Act 4 Keywarden drops the plan for the infernal machine. Once you get one of each key and teach your blacksmith how to make it, you can have him make you an Infernal Machine.
The Infernal Machine will take you to a different realm where you fight buffed versions of bosses that appear elsewhere in the game, two at a time. Again, there are three sets, and each set has a chance to drop a different item that you'll need to take to your jeweler to have him make the Hellfire Ring. You can choose the main stat, and it gets other random rolls.
This may seem like a lot to do for a single item, but this isn't just another legendary. This ring gives you a significant boost to experience and has a chance to spawn a fireball.
More about keywardens and the ring: http://www.diablowiki.net/Hellfire_Ring
So if you haven't played in a while, and especially if you have a level 60 you abandoned because Inferno just wasn't fun, you should definitely give it another shot. If you liked the mechanics but felt like the game wasn't scaled well or didn't give you enough fun things to do, the team has made some changes that make it far more fun and worth your time.
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This is a great update, thanks Travis. Getting a Hellfire Ring looks epic. Do you have one yet? Also, do you fight those zones on MP10 to get the keywarden drops and organ drops everytime?
Nope, no hellfire ring yet, but we're working on it. We're so far only going as high as MP4, that's about as much as we feel comfortable with, and plus that should average out to a drop almost every other visit so it isn't a huge deal. MP10 would absolutely kill us at this point!
That makes sense. How much have you collcted so far for the ring?
Just keys. No parts yet. We're working on it though!
Sounds like fun and I want to get that ring. I just don't know about the time it would take to get it. Sounds like a hell of a fun time though.
I will tell you that it gets horribly frustrating at times. But those beautiful drops are worth it.
I bet, then again I stopped at the molten armor in Terraria because going higher was much more work.
My goal with our upcoming server is to get a higher tier of armor this time. At least, last time I nabbed the molten armor... Or whatever you mine in hell... Obsidian?
This is horribly off-topic because I am jonesn for the 1.2 patch.
Yeah it's molten. Obsidian is one or two tiers below Molten.
With the new content to hardmode, the new ores, etc... I bet it's going to be much harder to max out. I CAN DO IT.
Hahahahaha. I bet.
Did you get top tier in the last few games we played?
Not quite. I got it in the first world, but not the second. I stopped at half Adamantite, half ... whatever the green stuff is.
Sure. I think we all stopped about then.