Diablo III Options

[Crushinator]

I was suprised we don't have a thread for this yet, but I guess since blizzard is so stingy with the news its not unexpected.

Anyways, straight outta GamesCom we have details on the crafting system!



Looks fast, slick, and unobtrusive. I love how you can break down the "big loot" into crafting shit so you don't have to TP to town constantly to sell big things like armor.

Update with some details on the caravan:

Diablo III Caravan FAQ
Q: What is the caravan?
A: The caravan is a persistent group that follows the heroes across Sanctuary, providing a centralized hub for players to find quest givers, crafters, and other important NPCs. As your character moves through the world so too will your loyal band, setting up in specific locations to remain close by should you need them.

Q: Who are the artisans?
A: In order to access the professions in Diablo III, you’ll need to gain the loyalty of various artisans through your travels in Sanctuary. The blacksmith, mystic, and jeweler will each provide unique services over the course of the game.

Q: What do the artisans offer?
A: Skilling up your artisans will unlock unique recipes, granting your character access to benefits that may not be found anywhere else in the world. The blacksmith crafts weapons and armor, and can add sockets to some items. The mystic creates scrolls, potions, magical weapons, spell runes, and charms, and can also enchant items. The jeweler crafts gems , amulets, and rings. The jeweler can also remove gems from socketed items and can combine gems to improve their quality.

Q: How do I find the artisans?
A: Finding the artisans will be part of the main quest. Each artisan has been fleshed out to include their own story and quest line.

Q: How do I use the artisans?
A: You’ll collect loot as a reward for slaughtering the forces of the Burning Hells. Unwanted items can be salvaged in your inventory, converting these goods into raw crafting materials—higher-level items are salvaged into higher-level materials. You’ll then take those raw materials and hand them over to the artisans, putting them to work crafting or enchanting for you. Upon returning to the caravan after a lengthy foray, you may also find that the artisans have been hard at work plying their trade for your benefit.

Q: How do I salvage my items?
A: Players will find an item while progressing through the main quest that will allow them to convert unwanted gear into crafting materials from the inventory. This item will not take up any inventory space. This should be a more satisfying option for offloading unwanted loot than the alternative—dropping things on the ground or making frequent trips to a vendor.

Q: Why are you including crafting professions in an action game?
A: Professions add depth to the item collection gameplay that drives the action of Diablo III. We want to provide players with an alternative way to acquire gear, potions, and other randomly found items. We also want to provide additional forms of customization for players—adding jewels, enchants, or sockets to existing gear allows players to further tailor their characters. Many rare crafting recipes and materials are only found as world drops, enhancing the item acquisition process by increasing the diversity of items dropped by monsters.

[AC9breaker]

Wehlp, guess it's about time I invest in a serious gaming Laptop. Suggestions?

[Crushinator]

Wehlp, guess it's about time I invest in a serious gaming Laptop. Suggestions?

Yay, new computer hardware!

For a windows gaming Laptop, my first choice is usually Asus ROG. For some reason these are a little hard to track down now, but i'd suggest the 15" G53JW or G53SX. The SX has a beefier graphics card in the GTX 560M, but they're both good.

http://rog.asus.com/notebook/15-inch/g53jw/

http://rog.asus.com/notebook/15-inch/g53sx/

Alienware has actually scaled back the garish case designs on their laptops, and the M11x is an 11" netbook-sized gaming system. If you want ultra-portability there isn't a better choice, but your overall performance will not be as good as with a full sized system. I'd recommend the M14x as the best balance between size (14.1") and power. Make sure to opt for the 1600x900 screen upgrade.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-m11x-r3/pd.aspx

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-M14x/pd.aspx

I've never dealt with iBuyPower, but i have used the same hardware they build their systems with, and its solid. They're definitely one of the cheaper options, and I've heard positive things about their customer service. The Battalion 101 CZ-12 -- and the default configuration includes an i7 and 540m graphics card, at $1149, easily the lower price around.

http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Battalion_1...2_Gaming_Laptop

If you want to cross over to Mac, I'd suggest the 15" Macbook Pro. Its actually going to offer the weakest graphics card option of any of these choices, but I am a HUGE fan of the hardware design and tactile feel of Macs. You're limited to two options for graphics, AMD 6750m 512mb or the AMD 6770m 1GB, and you pay quite the fee to jump to the higher one. One thing to keep in mind is that if you DO go Mac, hold off till they announce the new designs for MacBooks (this april?) and the prices of the current models will drop quite a bit, so you can probably snag one for a (comparative) song.

http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MD318LL/A?

http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MD322LL/A?

Some general tips as far as customizing goes:

• i5 CPUs are good, i7 is even better if its in your budget. Don't get an i3 on a gaming system or you will be sad.
• Opt for 8GB of ram if possible.
• For your OS, don't splash for Win7 Ultimate, not worth the perks if your'e just gaming. Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit is the best choice.
• Given the choice for a higher res screen, take it.
• Don't get a blu-ray drive on the computer, just use an HD streaming service like Netflix or Hulu (or download HD-rips of your movies ).
• Hard drive size is probably not a concern, but don't go lower than 500 GB, and if given the option get a 7200rpm drive to decrease load times.
• I know that 17"+ screens look badass, but for practical purposes they kill portability and battery life. Thats why all my recommendations have been 14-16".

These suggestions are for powerful but moderately priced ($1100-$1800) specs, if you wanna ball ridiculous you can go crazy and easily spend over $3k to get the best of the best, but you'll see diminishing returns.