Beating Normal Mode: The Basics of Stats

Did you just pick up your copy of Diablo 3 and start your first game? Normal difficulty is the first step on your way to leveling a character to level 60, and in general it’s not too difficult. However, at certain points in the game, Normal difficulty might cause you a little pause. Here are our basic tips to help any class through Diablo’s introductory difficulty.

Tristram Live Diablo 3 Podcast Episode 3 is Live!

In this episode of the Tristram Live Diablo 3 Podcast, Zulu and Mcgabe discuss launch day, error 37, the auction house's troubles, and their first impressions of Diablo 3's four difficulty levels (Normal, Nightmare, Hell, Inferno).

Toward the end of the podcast, we also provide tips on how to get started in each of the four difficulty levels. Next week, we're going to be talking about the developer update in quite a bit of detail, so be sure to check back!

An Introduction: Diablo 3 Tips for Beginners

Are you, like many people, new to the Diablo franchise? Or are you coming into the game and are utterly confused by how Diablo 3 differs from its predecessors? Either way, I’ve come across a lot of people who don’t understand a few things about how basics of the game work, and others that are unaware of key features that impact how you play the game. Here are the four things I think it would help every beginner to know.

Monk Impressions: Mcgabe

“The tales of Ivgorod’s monks are steeped in mystery and legend. It is said that these reclusive holy warriors endure grueling training for years on end at the wonderous floating Sky Monastery, forging their bodies and minds into weapons of righteousness. For the monks, there is no greater honor than to follow the will of their 1001 gods, even if it means death.”

Diablo 3’s Monk takes the usual “holy warrior” or “paladin” RPG archetype, chews it up, spits it out, stands it on its head, and turns it inside out. And those are all very, very good things.

The fresh take on the “holy warrior” is but one of the many draw-ins of the class. I’m sure many, like myself, are huge oriental martial arts fans; well, the Monk has an entire roster of flashy, jumpkick-y attacks to choose from. From Deadly Reach (my absolute favorite) to Fists of Thunder to Cyclone Strike, the Monk’s every swing feels like a nuclear explosion, and each skill is just as destructive as its name implies.

24 Hour Live Stream Details

So May 15th is finally upon us and we're ready to bite the bullet. Starting tomorrow at 3:00 AM Eastern Time, we will be broadcasting live on Twitch TV for 24 hours straight! We'll be racing to Nightmare and Hell modes as fast as we can, and who knows, maybe we'll even get a U.S. first or two.

We'll be monitoring chat, taking questions, and interacting with the community in general throughout the day. If you're one of the few unlucky enough to be at work, or you're just interested in watching some moderately funny people go balls to the wall at Diablo 3, come check us out before 3 AM on Wednesday morning. You'll be able to watch either in the Stream section of our site or over on Twitch.

See you in Hell.

Demon Hunter Impressions: Zulu

“The demon hunters. Vengeful harbingers of righteous doom who bring swift judgment and death to the hellish creatures daring enough to trespass on the mortal lands of Sanctuary. Skilled archers, assassins, and trackers, demon hunters are perfectly honed instruments set to scour demons from the world. The fact that every last one of them has a deep and personal motivation to do so only sharpens their deadly purpose.”

Diablo 3’s Demon Hunter is the spiritual offspring of Diablo 2’s Assassin and Amazon classes. Combining the ranged, weapon-based attacks of the Amazon with the Assassin’s traps and acrobatics, the Demon Hunter specializes in tactical ranged combat. In addition to spells like Spike Trap and Rapid Fire, the Demon Hunter employs shadow magic, giving the Demon Hunter a certain level of badassery archer-type classes often lack.

Barbarian Impressions: Zulu

“The barbarians. Mighty warriors whose strength and ferocity are a match for any foe, whether slavering beast or foul demon. Tall, broad, and rippling with muscle, the barbarian can bear a heavy weapon too large for a commoner to lift, or wield two full-sized armaments—one in each hand—with wickedly lethal purpose. In the wild and monstrous lands of Sanctuary, there is nothing more frightening than a barbarian with a dry blade.”

Diablo 3’s Barbarian fulfills the archetype well. Completely at home in the center of combat, the Barbarian forgoes finesse in favor of sheer brute force. While the idea of the Barbarian is straightforward, the class is anything but bland. Spells like Cleave and Whirlwind fulfill the status quo, while others like Seismic Slam and Earthquake take the Barbarian’s staggering displays of power to the next level.

Wizard Impressions: Zulu

“The wizards. Brilliant practitioners of the arcane arts who deftly wield the energies of fire, ice, lightning, and even time itself in the pursuit of their enigmatic goals. Bedecked in archaic charms, clad in runes, and wrapped in free-flowing robes to allow for the somatic components of their spells, wizards are a veritable thunderstorm of lethal powers who can strike from close or long range. There is no safe way to approach an angry wizard.”

Diablo 3’s Wizard is a much more traditional version of the caster class than the Witch Doctor. Employing well-known spells like Magic Missile, Blizzard and Frost Nova, the Wizard offers caster-minded players an experience they’ve come to expect, but with much more ferocity than they’re used to.

Wizard Impressions: Mcgabe

“The Wizard is fiercely talented in various forms of magic. Her broad expertise allows her to manipulate the very fabric of reality, and bend time, space, and arcane energies to her will.”

Ah, the Wizard: already my favorite Diablo 3 class before the spotlight video was released; my ABSOLUTE favorite post-spotlight. Everything that was showcased just sealed the deal for me. Wizard will be my starting class.

Keeping this article objective, concise and informative was definitely a difficult task. Even now, I’m struggling to not begin rambling indefinitely about how amazing Arcane Torrent is, or how my absolute favorite thing to do (ever) will be reflecting enemy projectiles with Wave of Force. But I digress.

Tristram Live Diablo 3 Podcast Episode 2 - The Evolution of Diablo

In this episode of the Tristram Live Diablo 3 Podcast, we talk about the evolution of the game, including topics like Diablo 1's skill books, Diablo 3's Nephalem Valor system, and chain-chugging potions in Diablo 2 boss fights.

Friendly to the veteran and newcomer alike, this episode is a great chance for people who didn't play the Diablo 3 beta to get a better idea of how the game differs from Diablo 2.

We went to great pains to improve the sound quality for this podcast and we think it came out much better than last week!

What do you think about the differences between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3? Are you a fan? Sound off in the comments.

Witch Doctor Impressions: Zulu

“They command ancient magics rooted in the primal powers of life and death, and are adept at summoning fearsome, shadowy creatures. A witch doctor is armed with simple talismans, fetishes, rough carvings… and endless ravening throngs of vengeful spirits set to bring destruction at their master’s command.”

Diablo 3's Witch Doctor class is one of the more novel classes ever made in video games, fulfilling a necromancer-like role without the normal clichés. With spells like Plague of Toads, Firebats and Wall of Zombies, the Witch Doctor’s spells range from eccentric to the ridiculously powerful.

Welcome! Tristram Live Diablo 3 Podcast Episode 1 is Up

Hello everyone and welcome to Tristram Live!

We've been slaving over getting the site set up for the past few weeks and we're finally ready for people to check it out. We've got tabs set up at the top so you can navigate to each of the different platforms that we produce content for, as well as an about page that also has our contact/social media information and some details about the site's contributors, Zulu and Mcgabe.

As for content, we are planning to bring you frequent posts addressing key happenings in the Diablo 3 community, including blue posts, patch notes and everything in between. However, we're not aiming to be a news source. All of our posts are going to be responses to news or discussions going on in the community, based on our own opinions and analysis.

Streaming is also going to be a big component of the site. We're already planning an all-day streaming event May 15, where we invite you to come watch and talk to us about Blizzard's latest action-RPG. Details on which nights we will regularly stream will be released later.

Last but not least, we have the podcast. The podcast is going to feature strategy discussion, including skills, spell sets, rune selection and everything else. If there's time between all the nerd rambling, we'll try to cover any big ideas people are talking about on the forums.

That being said, we've got to start somewhere, so in this episode we'll be talking about our pre-launch opinions of the game and impressions from the beta. We've included details about the streaming event on May 15 in addition to some great discussion, so we hope you'll stay a while...and listen.