With WoW Cataclysm Classic just around the corner, Deathwing burst forth and destroyed the world, bringing sweeping changes to Azeroth and many of WoW’s systems. Fast forward to today, and Deathwing is returning once again in WoW Cataclysm, launching on May 20.
A lot has happened since 2010, so let’s take a moment to revisit Cataclysm patches, review the story and some features introduced, and take a look at the brand new changes coming to Cataclysm Classic!
Patch 4.0.1 is Cataclysm system pre-patch, introducing several interfaces and system updates ahead of release.
Reforging was introduced, allowing players to assign some of an item’s secondary properties to different secondary properties, and Mastery was introduced, providing a new secondary property for you to consider!
Additionally, spells and abilities changed removing ranks, instead simply scaling with character level, and Spellbook UI was updated with it.
With ammo removed from the game, hunters have seen a number of quality of life improvements, especially as cloth, leather, and mail users see their armor become as durable as plate, which normalizes repair costs across classes. This avoids the problem of spending large amounts of WoW Cataclysm Classic Gold and still not getting satisfactory results, as was the case in the past.
Patch 4.0.3 brings us Shattering. Without warning, the corrupted Dragon Aspects Deathwing bursts from the stone heart of Deepholm, the realm of earth in Elemental Planes. Jagged cracks tear through the land, and raging waves crash against coastal areas.
From Thousand Needles to Blasted Lands, the surface of Azeroth is reshaped in a violent upheaval. Forced to defend their homes against Deathwing and his minions, both the Horde and the Alliance lived with the uneasy fear that the world as they knew it had changed forever.
Shattering saw the continents of Kalimdor and Eastern kingdoms reshaped, offering unique experiences in previously existing areas and new adventures in never before seen zones.
Two races were unlocked Goblins for Horde and Worgen for Alliance, and fresh race and class combinations accompanied them. Nine new dungeons were introduced:
Three new raids saw champions face down to some of the bigger threats and allies of Deathwing!
Blackwing Descent was the layer of the resurrected Nefarian, son of Deathwing, and the site of the heinous experiments he conducted in an attempt to create a new breed of chromatic dragons.
Bastion of Twilight was the primary fortress of Twilight Hammer. Cho’gall, the leader of the cult, dwelled here, as well as Sinestra, mother of Nefarian and Onyxia and creator of the first Twilight Dragons, reanimated and overseeing the creation of another Twilight clutch.
Throne of Four Winds was located inside Skywall, and was Al’Akir’s personal lair! With the barrier between Elemental Plane and Azeroth ruptured, his invasion needed to be stopped.
Patch 4.1 Rise of the Zandalari is the first major patch for WoW Cataclysm! The days where the great troll empire stretched across ancient Kalimdor, were long past. As Azeroth recovered from the destruction of Cataclysm, the world’s divided troll population faced a bleak future.
These dark times spurred the trolls of the Zandalar to drastic action. They began a bold crusade to save their race by unifying the trolls into a powerful empire.
With Zandalari’s aid, the fallen capitals of Gurubashi and Amani nations - Zul’Gurub and Zul’Aman began rebuilding, replenishing their forces for a bloody campaign to expand their territories.
Yet Vol’jin and his Darkspear trolls were not aligned with Zandalari. They vowed to work with the Horde and the Alliance to prevent the trolls from starting a new war in Azeroth. Soon Vol’jin was forced to act on his promise, for if Gurubashi and Amani were left to their own devices, the world would know the legendary strength and savagery of the ancient troll empires once again.
With the trolls attempting to rebuild and reunite, Zul’Aman and Zul’Gurub were reimagined, becoming heroic 5-player dungeons.
Guilds received some attention with the introduction of Guild Challenges that rewarded achievements and gold for completing various content in a guild group. Guild finder tool was also introduced, designed to help players find like-minded friends to tackle these new adventures with.
And a very helpful quality of life improvement also came with this patch. The ability to resurrect allies from raid or party frames, instead of having to locate a fallen companion’s body in the world.
Patch 4.2 Rage of the Firelands, was the second major patch of Cataclysm. Across the breadth of Azeroth, Horde and Alliance dealt crushing blows to Deathwing’s elemental minions and fanatic Twilight’s Hammer cultists.
As the elements continue to be in disarray, it seems that the noble shamanic order may finally be on the verge of collapse under the enormous weight on its shoulders. Even Thrall, for all his wisdom and skill, had grown aggravated by his failure to effectively communicate with Azeroth’s elements.
Recently, his calls were acknowledged, but the malevolent entity that responded had only intensified Thrall’s fears and doubts.
Patch 4.2 brought with it a new raid, Firelands. This molten hellscape in Elemental Plane was forged by Titans to house Ragnaros and his servants. Ragnaros’s invasion of Mount Hyjal could not go unanswered, as champions took the fight to his domain.
A new legendary item, Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa’s Rest could be obtained after completing a considerable questline. This two handed staff was incredibly powerful, and wielding it was a true testament to dedication!
A nice quality of life change, improved Durability Displays’s warnings, adjusting yellow to signify 20% durability as opposed to a durability of 5%. And access to a wealth of information and lore was added directly in-game with the introduction of Dungeon Journal.
Patch 4.3 Hour of Twilight was the third and final installment of cataclysm, and its largest content update since launch!
In the aftermath of Cataclysm, the warriors of Azeroth rose up against the forces of the mad black Dragon Aspect Deathwing. Thus far, the world’s defenders had shattered the power base of Twilight’s Hammer cult and defeated the raging elemental Lords Al’Akir and Ragnaros.
Yet despite these victories, as long as Deathwing was free to pursue his twisted goals, Azeroth would remain under threat. No one was more aware of this fact.
The great Dragon Aspects such as Nozdormu, Alexstrasza, Kalecgos, and Ysera. Together with the wise shaman Thrall, they devised a plan to vanquish Deathwing with a weapon of his own design: the infamous Dragon Soul.
Thrall and the noble aspects would call upon Horde and Alliance to help them retrieve the artifact - No longer in existence - from the distant past. Those brave enough to face the challenge would embark on a perilous journey from Azeroth’s apocalyptic End Time to Dragon Soul’s point of origin during the catastrophic War of the ancients. If the heroes succeeded, an even more harrowing battle awaited them in their present.
Hour of Twilight brought three new dungeons:
End Time saw heroes visit potential futures that would come to exist should Deathwing prevail, pitting them against visages of corrupted heroes of Azeroth and ultimately facing down a tormented version of those Nozdormu, called Murozond, who created Infinite Dragonflight and shattered the time ways in an attempt to subvert his own mortality.
Well of Eternity flung heroes back 10,000 years in time, just before Sundering to assist Illidan and Tyrande in battling Burning Legion. As Azshara attempted to bring Sargeras himself to Azeroth. Hour of Twilight saw heroes prepare for the last battle with Deathwing, and fight alongside Thrall to bring Dragon Soul to Wyrmrest Temple.
The final Raid, Dragon Soul, continued to the fight in the besieged temple through Last of Deathwing’s lieutenants and ultimately onto Destroyer himself. As Thrall, Dragon Aspects and the champions of Azeroth attempted to end Cataclysm once and for all.
A new legendary pair of daggers called Fangs of the Father could be obtained by rogues after completing a multi-quest chain that concluded with the defeat of Deathwing.
And Raid Fighter tool was introduced, offering a quick way for players to form a group for a specifically tuned version of Dragon Soul Raid.
With all these epic storylines, legendary items, dungeons, raids, Cataclysm era was densely packed.
But perhaps one of the greatest systems introduced in all of Cataclysm, perhaps one of the greatest systems introduced in all of WoW came with patch 4.3 - Transmogrification.
This new cosmetic system allows players to customize their gear like never before by copying the appearance of one item onto another. Gone were the days of mismatched armor and feeling like you had to choose stats over aesthetics!
In Cataclysm Classic, the core story and experiences will remain, but a few things have gotten some changes.
Firstly, things are going to be faster. An increased content cadence will condense the entire expansion into about one year, while an expanded pre-patch means the action starts sooner.
As of the pre-patch going live, the shattering has come to Azeroth. Kezan and Gilneas starter zones are now available, and Goblins and Worgen are unlocked and can be leveled up to 80.
Also, Transmogrification is unlocked, as are account wide collections. New class and race combos are unlocked, along with class updates like talents and spells. Archeology and Reforging are also unlocked. Accelerated leveling from 1 to 80 is in place, which will help you roll alts in this faster environment. And flying is unlocked in the newly reshaped Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms.
At launch, several more iconic features from Cataclysm will come online. Five zones will be unlocked. Mountain Hyjal, Vash’jir, Twilight Highlands, Uldum, and Deepholm will all be available for 80 through 85 questing.
And the 9 dungeons we explored earlier that were part of patch 4.0.3 will all be unlocked, along with a new heroic Dungeon system. Tol Barad world PVP zone that pits Horde against Alliance for the control of three objectives will also unlock at launch, as will everyone’s favorite fairgrounds Darkmoon Island.
After launch Throne of the Four Winds, Blackwing Descent, and Bastion of Twilight will make their appearance and a new flexible Raid Lock System, which allows players to do both the 10 and 25 player versions of raids in the same week. Plus, additional content updates will continue to roll out as the expansion unfolds.
That’s it for my review of all the major WoW Cataclysm Classic patches released so far. Anyway, the new expansion is coming soon, so let’s wait and see!
Get ready because I'm about to reveal a bunch of important passing techniques that are often overlooked but are currently proving to be crucial in the EA FC 24 Team of the Season event. However, before we delve into these techniques, let's take a moment to enhance our understanding of passing fundamentals.
Passing is the cornerstone of gameplay in EA Sports FC 24. It's not just about moving the ball between players. An effective passing involves delivering the ball to a teammate smoothly, without disrupting the game's flow. An inaccurate pass can lead to missed offensive opportunities or the opponent gaining possession.
In the game, there are various types of passing, each serving different purposes:
Let's begin with the Ground Pass, the simplest passing method in the EA FC 24. Target a player with your Left Analog Stick and press your X or A button to send a Ground Pass directly to their feet. This is the most commonly used pass, but ensure there's no opponent blocking the passing lane.
The Driven Ground Pass, which is also called the Long Driven Pass, is a more forceful version of the normal Ground Pass. Hold R1 or RB button and power up a normal pass for a faster and stronger delivery. Use it when your passer isn't under pressure to speed up the play, though it relies on the skills of the passer and receiver.
Moving on to the Lofted Ground Pass, it's ideal for bypassing Defenders blocking Ground Passes. Double-tap the Pass button to lift the ball slightly, making it harder to intercept. You can employ this pass inside the box to evade Defenders.
Lastly, the 1-2 Pass adds dynamism to your attack. Hold L1 or LB and pass to a teammate, then watch as your initial passer makes a forward run. Use this to create new passing opportunities and confuse Defenders. It's effective when combined with other passing techniques, especially on the wing to exploit space.
However, not all passes need to go directly to where the receiver is. Sometimes, you need to send the ball to his running lane so that he doesn't lose any speed while catching the ball. Therefore, we have 2 passes that point out the direction your runner is heading to.
Through Pass: Power up the Through Pass with your Triangle or Y button while giving your passer a side angle towards the receiver. This increases the efficiency of the through ball and allows the runner to get behind the defensive line.
Lobbed Through Pass: If someone is trying to anticipate the passing lane and cut it off, allowing runners to get in behind the defense, you can use a Lobbed Through Pass to get the ball past them and into the path of the player. Watch the movement of players, identify the defensive behavior of the opponent. If not, hold down the L1 or LB button and step up the Through Pass.
Another Through Pass variation is a lofted one. It can easily dodge a Defender's interception and get the ball towards your running lane. It is much easier to control the ball with this method compared to the lobbed one. In short distances, double-tapping the Triangle or Y button will allow you to execute it.
The next one is known as the Driven Through Pass, which can be executed by holding on to both the L1 and R1 or LB and RB buttons together. The Driven Through Passes are particularly effective in wider spaces. If you spot a teammate making a direct run towards the goal with minimal defensive coverage, consider using a Driven Through Pass to swiftly deliver the ball to them.
Moving on to the Lob Pass section, by only using the Square or X button, you can achieve a lot of things, especially when facing pressure. Using a simple Long Pass easily lets you break the pressure. You can also switch sides consistently with the Long Pass to get your buildup in another direction.
If you want your Long Pass to get even higher, which can be very useful for players who have the Aerial PlayStyle. You can utilize your EA FC 24 Coins to acquire a player with this particular PlayStyle. Then you can hold on to the L1 or LB button before going for a Lob Pass. This higher Lob Pass will give your pass more height, making headers easier.
On the other side, the Driven Lob Pass does exactly the opposite. Your pass loses height but gains speed, which can be very practical if there's no one between your passer and his target. To be able to use it, hold on to both L1 and R1 or LB and RB buttons together and power up the Lob Pass.
Using this Driven Lob Pass while switching sides is very effective if you're not under any pressure. It allows you to get towards the other side rapidly and increase the pace in your buildup before the defense settles.
Here are a few passing techniques I suggest trying out in the EA FC 24 TOTS Weekend League. Have fun and win more games with them!
Besides Artifacts, weapons are the most important part of good character building in Genshin Impact. Playable characters can fight using Catalyst, Bow, Sword, Polearm, or Claymore, but not all weapons are created equal. Weapon levels range from 1 star to 5 star. The 5 star weapons are the best and of course the rarest.
Getting good 4-star or 5-star weapons in Genshin Impact can be difficult, especially for new players. Luckily, there are plenty of great 3-star weapons available in the meantime.
In this guide, we’ll showcase 8 three-star weapons worth saving for every player. They are extremely useful and have great potential, especially once players upgrade, improve, and refine them.
The first weapon is pretty obvious and most of us know why. It’s Thrilling Tales of Dragon Slayers.
This weapon is one of the best secondary weapons in the game, providing a massive 48% attack power boost to the next character you switch to. While it does make your spin a little stiff, the huge attack boost is worth it.
In a team with a damage dealer with scalable attacks, 90% of the time this weapon will be the best choice of catalyst support.
You also don’t need to upgrade the weapon unless you need HP sub-stat. Just bring it to R5. I’ve saved 3 R5 copies of this weapon, 2 for each Spiral Abyss team, and one as an extra.
If passive uptime is maintained, the next weapon will damage most 4-star weapons and sometimes even 5-star weapon options. It’s Harbinger of Dawn.
It provides a large amount of critical damage and an additional 28% critical chance if your health is above 90%. It does have lower base attack power, but its critical hit stats make up for that. For characters, like Albedo and Alhaitham, low base attack has little impact.
Although the passive may seem difficult to maintain, it’s an amazing weapon choice if you have a Shielder or a character on your team who can dodge enemy attacks.
This is great for low DPS characters since they spend most of their time on the sidelines, giving you 100% uptime on the passive side.
Corrosion and Furina are the weaknesses of this weapon. But you should save at least 1 R5 Harbinger of Dawn. I saved 2 just to be safe.
The next weapon we have is Black Tassel. This Polearm provides the highest HP in the game. The passive is useless, but the raw stats make it a splendid choice of characters like Zhongli, Thoma, who only need HP.
Next is Black Tassel’s brother, White Tassel. The critical hit rate of this weapon is astonishing.
Although its base attack power is lower since it is a 3-star weapon, the passive skill provides a 48% increase in basic attack damage at R5. This makes it a brilliant choice for carriers like Cyno who use normal attacks.
It’s even comparable to 5-star Polearms if you use its passive skill. So I recommend you keep at least 1 R5 copy of this weapon.
Next we have R5 Slingshot. This weapon provides critical strike chance. It increases basic and charged attack damage by 60% if you’re close to an enemy.
Tighnari is the best candidate for this weapon because he relies on charged attacks, and low base attacks don’t affect him much.
Next we have Sharpshooter’s Oath. This weapon doesn’t have much use so far, as its passive is situational and craftable bow-based. And Prototype Crescent is better suited to enemies like Ganyu, who are weak to ATK% DPS characters.
However, this weapon provides critical damage that the 4-star bow does not. This could make it a superb choice for future character stats. So I suggest you better save 1 copy of this weapon at R5.
Then we have Recurve Bow, which is the only bow that provides HP%. While the passive is useless, the raw stats may be useful in the future. Even now, if you don’t have Favonius Warbow, this weapon is great for Yelan.
Next we have Dark Iron Sword. Although this weapon doesn’t have much use, it is a very rare sword. It can only be found in 2 places. The first one requires talking to Chen the Sharp, and the next one is in the chest in Wangshan Hall in Chenyu Vale. Even though it’s not that useful now, who knows you might need it in the future.
Besides these weapons, I recommend you keep a copy of the 3-star weapons. These weapons provide critical hit stats and stats rarely seen in 4-star weapon options like Def%, Hp%, or Elemental Mastery.
For example, Traveler’s Handy Sword provides Def%, while the only sword that provides defense is Cinnabar Spindle, which is an activity-limited weapon. So, being on the safe side, you should keep the sword.
Anyway, I hope this 3 star weapon guide is helpful to you. Be sure to share this guide with your friends so they don’t waste those valuable 3-star weapons.
In Phase 2 of WoW Classic Season of Discovery, several new Rogue runes have been introduced, including Shadowstep, Master of Subtlety, Rolling with Punches, Shuriken Toss, Poisoned Knife and Waylay. Next is a comprehensive guide aims to provide you with information on where to locate these 6 runes.
To obtain this rune, you need to journey to Thousand Needles to Camp E’thok. Inside the big tent, you'll find a chest that needs to be looted. Inside the chest, you'll find a smaller lockbox that requires multiple lockpicking attempts. A lockpicking skill of 125 is sufficient. Upon opening the final chest, you'll receive a debuff that prevents you from stealth for 5 minutes. Additionally, you'll obtain the rune.
The rune significantly increases your durability, providing tankiness in challenging situations. When the rune expires, your health percentage remains the same, which can be inconvenient for healing. To mitigate this, manually right-click the buff to remove it or create a macro for quicker removal. Removing the buff before healing reduces the amount of health you need to restore. Alternatively, using a macro ensures prompt removal of the buff, preventing health percentage discrepancies upon expiration.
Start by heading to Kurzen's Compound in Stranglethorn Vale. Inside the Compound's broken tower, you'll find a captive who needs to be freed. He informs you that high-ranking cursion mobs hold the key to his cage. Enter the nearby cave where the elite mob is located. Pickpocket Kurzen Elite to obtain the key. Inside the cave, you'll also find a supply crate, which contains Kurzen Fighter's Uniform.
If you're unable to defeat the mobs guarding the supply crate, you can wait for other players to clear them out so you can loot it. Exit the cave and return to the tower to give the key to the prisoner. Then, provide him with the Kurzen's Fighter's Uniform as a disguise, allowing him to escape.
Once the prisoner escapes, he instructs you to speak with Captain Aransas in Booty Bay. The captain can be found under the Inn near the fisherman. She expresses gratitude for saving her crewman and rewards you with the rune and Jani's Charm. If you don't see the prisoner in the cage, it means someone else has already freed him. You'll need to wait for a short respawn period before attempting again.
Possess the Disarm Trap ability or wait for someone else to deactivate the trap. Travel to the Swamp of Sorrows. Find a chest which is trapped with a poison dart. You must disarm the trap to loot the chest. Remove the trap and then loot the chest to acquire the ability. The ability allows you to throw Shurikens and costs 30 energy to use. Despite the ability's cool factor, its damage output is relatively low. Unfortunately, the ability does not proc with Blade Flurry, which would have been a desirable feature.
The first thing is that you need to be at least Level 30 to start the quest. Upon entering any major city, you receive mail from a person named C, who offers you a new job. He instructs you to go to a hut next to Shadowfang Keep. At the hut, you find instructions for the next stealth mission. You're tasked with finding a disguise on the monastery grounds and entering the Scarlet Monastery to retrieve an artifact. Locate the stables west of the monastery and loot a disguise from the chest. You may need Lockpicking skills.
Enter the Scarlet Monastery and head to the leftmost dungeon, which is the Graveyard. Pickpocket the Scarlet Scryer in the Chamber of Atonement for a key. Proceed to the Library and put on a disguise of a human Mage. Navigate the dungeon without attacking anyone until you reach a personal letterbox. Use the key to loot the chest, obtaining confidential messages. Exit the library and enter the Graveyard. Follow instructions to reach the Forlorn Cloister and interact with benches to trigger flavor text. Loot the stone cipher from the north crypt.
Return to the Library, and then head to the Gallery of Treasures. You will find the final quest item in the first small room on the left. Back to Shadowfang Keep to turn in the quest, but you won't receive rune rewards yet. Return to your Capital town and wait for a message from C directing you back to the hut for your reward.
Finally, return to Shadowfang Keep once more to loot your rune of Shadowstep. This rune allows you to blink and gain a 70% movement speed boost for 3 seconds, even while rooted. It's especially useful against Druids and Mages, as using Shadowstep does not provoke combat.
You can begin in Desolace and pick up the quest from the Extinguished Campfire. Investigate the camp murder by visiting Kormek’s Hut where a goblin directs you to Booty Bay. In Booty Bay, find Tokal inside the Inn. Buy her a drink to obtain information about the assassin's whereabouts. Travel to Arathi Highlands. Take a boat from Thandol Sspan to the east coast of the Arathi Highlands. Proceed where a Night Elf will spawn after a few minutes. Engage her in combat to obtain a key.
Use the key to unlock a nearby chest, obtaining the Poisoned Knife rune. The ability costs 25 energy (20 with Improved Sinister Strike), deals full offhand weapon damage, and procs poisons on your offhand. The ability has a minimum range of 8 and a maximum of 25. It generates a combo point and is effective for solo content, allowing kiting and stunning tactics.
Start in Deadwind Pass and speak with the Dalaran Agent at the small camp. Equip the trinket she gives you to locate the Dark Riders. There are 7 Dark Riders spread across the world. The first is in Deadwind Pass. Defeat him to obtain The Dalaran Relic. Proceed to Raven Hill in Duskwood, Swamp of Sorrows, and Badlands to summon and defeat the Dark Riders. Encounter the Highlands Dark Rider, but be aware of competition from other players.
Head to the Barrens and Desolace to summon the Dark Riders. With all relics gathered, return to Deadwind Pass to turn them in. You will earn 11 gold and 60 silver from the quest, but the reward, the Waylay rune, is considered underwhelming. Suggestions for improving the Waylay rune include providing a backstab damage boost while using the rune, making it more useful and relevant.
Welcome back adventurers! WOW Classic SOD Phase 2 has been out for over a week, and you may have already reached level 40 in Phase 2. So, what do we do next?
In this guide, we’ll reveal the ultimate secrets of everything the best players do at level 40, and share the 10 things you need to do at level 40 to get that extra edge.
We’ll break this guide into three parts. This first part we’ll focus on PVE, discussing everything you need to do to get ahead and dominate Season of Discovery, some of which will ensure your success in the rest of the game.
Second, we’ll cover the best gold makers available right now. We all know this phase is very expensive, but I can still produce over 200 WOW Classic SOD Gold per day to offset the enormous expense. So I’ll tell you how to do it.
Finally, we’re going to talk about my favorite topic: PVP. Without further ado, let’s get started!
Let’s start with PVE now. Your focus should be on making Epic helmets. They are the first choice for PVE and PVP.
Start with Grime-Encrusted Salvage, which you’ll find in Salvagematic 9000. My helmet cost over 400 WoW SoD gold to craft, but when the 3 day lockout comes the price really plummets. Therefore, my advice is to wait until the end of February before making the helmet.
Also, keep in mind that unlocked vendors sell new recipes like Retrocution or Enchants as well as the easy-to-throw Radiation Bomb. Even if you don’t get the helmet right away, you should still do the questline to get these recipes.
Helmet crafting may be one you’ve already completed, but Cozy Sleeping Bag questline is a must-do.
Depending on whether you are Alliance or Horde, you will embark on a journey to Camp Taurajo or Westfall. You will then head to Stonetalon Mountains and Loch Modan, and finally to Arathi Highlands or Hillsbrad Foothills.
If you haven’t reached level 40 yet, a 3% XP bonus is insane. You also get eight Student Fodders, each of which will provide four Rested XP bars, which I plan to keep until Phase 3.
We also want to get all the runes you may already have, or three new key runes you may be researching.
Now for my part, I’ll rush out and get Empowered Renew and Dispersion Rune. But the best players have acquired all 18 runes, allowing you to switch to new ones as soon as they cool down.
For example, I can instantly swap Dispersion for Pain Suppression. Then when it cools down, I can instantly switch to Spirit of the Redeemer and it’s like having three super powers all the time.
Another PVE thing to do is farm Furbolg Medicine Pouch. Just one hunter and one healer are enough to farm Furbolg, or you can form a full raiding party.
What’s more, this Pouch has been recently patched and is now actually usable. This makes it pretty crazy for any 1V1 or flag running, and you save time going to Exalted grind in the next phase.
Now that we’ve discussed PVE, let’s talk about our top gold makers in Phase 2.
This is an expensive phase. We need to make a lot of Classic SoD gold, and the first thing we need to do is complete quests. Because as long as the quests are within five levels, you will get the maximum gold reward.
There’s usually about two gold rewards per quest, which isn’t that crazy, but there are still over 100 quests you can do. Among them, many will also receive green rewards. But be careful, because if you plan on doing quests in Phase 3, you have a lot of big quests to avoid.
In fact, all professions have enchanting, even at level one. You can break down the blues and greens in the world and get materials like Nether Essence. They’re worth over three gold each on my server and take things to the next level.
I can usually spend double the money on enchanting materials. You can also use items like Icy Cloak to generate a Large Glowing Shard.
I’ve also made over 400 gold so far by checking out every BiS Tailoring recipe and stocking up on Auction House. Even now, items like Red Mageweave Pants usually make me over 5 gold per craft.
Another big gold maker I’m working on right now is selling Waylaid Supplies.
So now we need to completely fill a box before we can turn it in. This means that even low-level box items are still amazing gold makers.
My personal favorites are the cooking boxes like Spider Sausage. Practically every profession can make you money now, but the most important thing is to sell all the stacks in a box that fits.
Another profession gold maker is Transmute alts. Since several crafting recipes require Silver Bars, they cannot be smelted even with Advanced Mining Gloves.
Therefore, the best way to get bars is to convert Mithril Bars directly into Silver Bars every 48 hours. This way, you’ll earn three to four gold coins per character.
Another gold maker I’m working on is running Uldaman. Running Uldaman can get you some decent BiS Gear, and it may even drop extremely expensive items like Pendulum of Doom.
There is currently mixed information on who drops pendulum, but it seems to be mainly elites at level 44 to 45. Even if you’re not lucky enough to get a pendulum, other items may fetch a few hundred gold coins.
Finally, you’ll definitely want to do some PVP as well. Here are the tips you need to pay attention to when completing PVP activities.
The big PVP related thing I’m doing is STV Blood Moon Event, which happens every 3 hours. We know the event is a free-for-all, meaning you can kill players from both factions. You can also get tons of PVP rewards.
It seems that once the event starts, Fight Master becomes hostile and doesn’t allow you to leave Stranglethorn Vale easily. This looks like a very interesting mechanic, especially for hardcore PVP fans who want to fully experience the thrill of bloodshed.
Another thing I’m doing is grinding Arena Grand Master, which is the ultimate PVP Trinket, second only to Tidal Charm.
Whenever Blood Moon starts, treasure chests will spawn, and if you get 12 of them, you’ll get a crazy PVP Trinket. We usually summon in groups, then we split into groups of five to compete for Trinket, and then a final PVP match.
I’m really curious what you plan to spend the most time on in Phase 2. No matter what, plan a simple goal. It will really save you more time.
Welcome to my guide for Diablo 4 Season 3, where I present an incredible Barbarian Build known as the Death Blow Overkill Barbarian.
To kick things off, it’s crucial to equip the Overkill - an Ancestral unique 2-handed mace for Barbarians. With its perfect stats including all stat strength, overpower damage, and berserking, the damage to berserking is particularly noteworthy. Whether you possess an Overkill and seek a build to maximize its potential or simply have a penchant for the Death Blow skill, this build is worth exploring.
Starting with the Primal Bascinet of Might, prioritize Death Blow ranks and essential stats like total armor, maximum life, cooldown reduction, and employ basic skills for an Arsenal build.
Optimize the Juggernaut's Sovereign Mail chest for maximum health, resistances, and damage reduction.
Utilize Earthstriker Doom Gauntlets for their strength, attack speed, Critical Strike Chance, and Rend ranks, adaptable for core skills like Rend or Double Swing.
Choose Iron Blood Primal Chausses pants for Rend synergy or Protector for barrier utility, adjusting stats for defensive emphasis.
Equip Weapon Master's Doom Treads boots for movement speed and resistances.
Utilize Overkill 2-handed mace with rubies for overpower damage, complemented by Royal Boneblade of Inner Calm for stationary bonuses during key actions. Prioritize all-stat, strength, and relevant damage bonuses on weapons like Edgemaster's Skull and Steel and Demonblade of Encroaching Wrath.
Customize rings for Critical Strike Chance, overpower damage, and resource generation, considering options like Circle of Elements, or Ring of the Relentless Armsmaster based on individual preferences and synergy with companions. Then we have the Ring of Red Furor. This ring is amazing, and we spend 100 Fury by hitting Rend 3 times, which will proc our Encroaching Wrath, and then it will also proc this ring, and we’re guaranteed to have a Critical Strike.
Due to the Critical Strike damage boost from this ring, prioritizing damage amplification seems logical. However, maintaining overpower bonuses via gems for Earthstriker remains essential, especially with the inclusion of Bone Breaker.
In the amulet slot, the Iron Warrior is indispensable for Iron Skin users, boasting exceptional attributes such as strength, damage reduction, cooldown reduction, and 2 ranks to Heavy Handed. While this amulet is nearly perfectly rolled, prioritizing 3 ranks to all Weapon Mastery skills over Heavy Handed would further enhance the effectiveness of Death Blow. So try to get the Weapon Mastery skills and Weapon Expertise. With our Weapon Expertise, we do 2-handed axe, because everything will be vulnerable all the time.
For skill allocation, prioritize placing dual wield on Lunging Strike with 2 points for enhancement. Maximize points in Rend for enhanced effectiveness, then choose between Violent for increased damage or Furious for maintaining Edge Master bonus uptime. Allocate 3 points each in Imposing Presence and Iron Skin for enhancement and tactical use respectively. Include Swiftness for mobility and Aggressive Resistance for defense.
Consider omitting Prolific Fury due to companion effectiveness. Maximize points in Pit Fighter and Death Blow, potentially reaching 18 points with appropriate gear. Enhance Death Blow for boosted boss damage and include Warrior's Death Blow for berserking synergy. Utilize enhanced Steel Grasp for vulnerability and Fighter's for additional berserking. Allocate points in Thick Skin for counter offensive.
Opt for the Trifecta setup, emphasizing Heavy Handed, Brute Force, and Wallop for mace usage and vulnerability exploitation. Maintain Furious Impulse for weapon swapping Fury gain, adaptable depending on companion utility. Lastly, incorporate Wrath of the Berserker, progressing from Prime to Supreme for enhanced performance.
For our key passive, you could take Unconstrained, or you could take Walking Arsenal. The choice is yours. But if you don’t want to worry about weapon swapping, then Unconstrained would also be amazing as well. And with the skills, make sure that your Rend is on your slashing weapon, make sure your Lunging Strike is on dual wield, and make sure your Death Blow is on your Overkill mace.
In the Paragon board, prioritize Exploit glyph on the starting board to ensure constant vulnerability, and consider Bone Breaker for Wrath, maximizing dexterity for critical strike synergy with Ring of Red Furor. Alternatively, opt for Territorial for consistent damage without reliance on crits.
Emphasize Might in the Carnage board to enhance damage during berserking and bolster damage reduction.
In the Decimator board, focus on acquiring strength nodes for increased damage output.
Utilize the Weapon Master glyph in the Weapon Master board or the starter board to optimize physical damage bonuses, ensuring its effectiveness in tandem with frequent Death Blows.
Finally, prioritize Crusher in the Blood Rage board for overpower damage synergy with the main mace damage, emphasizing strength or Willpower allocation.
Then with our construct, I recommend to use the Flash of Adrenaline, Duration Support, Tactical Support with Initiative Support, and then you put Tempest with Resource Support, Safeguard Support, and Fortify Support. The fortifies are up all the time. All these are my favorite for this construct.
Hi, Builders! I extend a warm welcome to explore my curated list featuring the top 3 budget builds for the Path of Exile 3.23 Affliction League. If you're interested in delving deeper into affordable and powerful builds, then come with me on this journey. Let's dive right in!
To start this topic, we have the most beginner-friendly of all, the Arc Totems Hierophant with the Templar class. On this build, we use many totems that cast the Arc skill for a fast and safe clear speed.
Budget: As for budget, you can get it by destroying early endgame maps with only around 35 chaos to comfortably advance to Yellow Maps, you need to invest around 90 chaos, and for easily completing your Atlas, I recommend investing around 3 divines. But you can totally do it. This build needs 3 mandatory unique items, but they are normally very cheap and easy to get.
Pros: The pros of this build is that this build is cheap and easy to complete. Using this build with almost no investment, you have a powerful, safe, and fast character that will be the perfect POE Currency farmer for this and future builds.
Cons: To all the cons, this build doesn’t have access to Evasion or Spell Suppression, but totem builds are very safe to play. Another issue is that some players might find this gameplay to be a little tedious.
Clear Speed: For clear speed, this build gets 9 out of 10. Arc is a good skill that chains to many enemies and easily clears big packs. This build counts with 4 totems casting this amazing skill.
Boss Damage: The boss damage deserves 9 out of 10. With the right debuffs and all 4 totems summoned, this build can take even big bosses down without any issue.
Survivability: For survivability, I’ll also give it 9 out of 10. As a totem build, you’ll always be far from the action while your totems do all the work. So if you know how to mind your position, you can easily complete high-tier maps with low-grade gear. Above all, this build still comes with high armor and high block chance.
Next, we have this incredibly tanky Melee build, the Boneshatter Juggernaut with the Marauder class. This build is perfect for the Melee enthusiasts out there. Boneshatter hits enemies so hard that it hurts your own character, accumulating Trauma stacks. For each Trauma, you’re going to deal and take more damage. That’s why it’s important to gear both attack speed and armor to stack many Traumas and sustain their damage.
Budget: As for budget, this build is cheap. You can get it destroying early endgame maps with only around 60 chaos. To comfortably advance to Yellow Maps, I recommend investing around 120 chaos. And for easily completing your Atlas, I recommend investing around 4 Divine Orbs.
Pros: To reach the pros of this build, I would start off with its survivability. Even though you do damage to yourself, this build has so much armor that you won’t feel a thing. However, this build don't need to sacrifice speed or boss damage. It’s still super fast and can kill Guardians in just a few seconds.
Cons: To all the cons, the first thing that comes to mind is that you need to keep an eye on your Accuracy. This is because the keystone Precise Technique grants 40% more damage if your Accuracy is bigger than your Life.
Clear Speed: For clear speed, I’ll give it 9 out of 10. Boneshatter also creates a big pulse of damage when stunning enemies, meaning that a single blow can kill an entire pack of monsters. Other than that, you stack a lot of attack speed that causes your Leap Slam land to almost teleport you through the map.
Boss Damage: The boss damage is also great and deserves 9 out of 10. Using Boneshatter on bosses causes you to accumulate a lot of Trauma stacks and do huge amounts of damage.
Survivability: For survivability, this build is surely 10 out of 10, and I would even like to say 20 out of 10 if I could. This build achieves almost 200,000 armor and over 83% of all Elemental Resistances. All of that combined with the Juggernaut Ascendancy grants his character over 300,000 effective HP. It’s really crazy.
The last build of our budget selection is the amazing Summon Raging Spirits Guardian also with the Templar class. As we all know, minion builds are among the best out there, and this one has the best cost-benefit. It’s a very simple and safe build for you to complete all content with little investment or effort. It's also a good choice for beginners.
Budget: As for budget, you can get it destroying by the early endgame maps with only around 60 chaos to comfortably advance to Yellow Maps. I recommend investing around 100 Chaos Orbs. And for easily completing RAS, I recommend investing around 4 divines.
Pros: When it comes to the pros of this build, it is accessibility, super cheap and easy to play, doesn’t need any mandatory unique POE Item. This build is for everyone. It also comes with great boss damage and survivability. Above all, it has 3 damage auras totally for free and a minion that takes 20% of the damage for you.
Cons: To let the cons start, saying the Raging Spirits have a short duration, and you need to keep resummoning them, which might reduce your speed a little. Other than that, this build also doesn’t have access to Evasion or Life.
Clear Speed: This build gets 8 out of 10 because you have to keep resummoning Raging Spirits. Even though the clear speed isn’t super fast, it’s perfectly fine for you to play.
Boss Damage: The boss damage is great, it’s a 9 out of 10. If you apply all the buffs and maintain the Summon Spirit, you will easily reach over 15 million DPS, more than enough to decimate all end-game bosses in seconds.
Survivability: For survivability, I’ll give it 10 out of 10. This is because we’re talking about a minion build where you just need to summon them and wait behind while they destroy and tank everything for you. You just need to mind your position, but with this build, even if they manage to reach you, you still have high armor and block chance, resting on an effective HP of over 14,000.
Diablo 4 extends far beyond its core storyline, yet these additional layers are only unveiled post-Lilith’s defeat. Blizzard has intricately woven numerous trials into the fabric of Sanctuary’s ongoing existence within the endgame, providing ample opportunities for Wanderers to delve into these quests and further fortify their characters.
Accompanied by the introduction of Vaults, Diablo 4 Season of the Construct beckons players to confront Malphas, a demon who has seized control of the ancient technology known as The Loom. However, adequate preparation is paramount before confronting this adversary, and there’s no superior method to enhance your prowess than by engaging in endgame activities, tackling World Bosses, and scouring for Unique Items.
If you don’t know what to do next after completing the primary campaign in Diablo 4 Season 3, here’s a comprehensive overview of the myriad activities available.
Upon finishing the primary narrative of Diablo 4 Season 3, one of the initial actions available is elevating Sanctuary’s world level.
In the endgame, players gain entry to two additional difficulty tiers:
Adjusting World Tiers presents the chance to confront more formidable adversaries while also reaping rewards of superior quality and rarity, including Sacred & Ancestral items. If you want to easily defeat your opponents, then it is necessary to reasonably allocate some Diablo 4 Gold to your characters and weapons!
Upon reaching World Level 3 in Diablo 4 Season 3, players will observe the emergence of Nightmare Sigils scattered across Sanctuary’s map.
These sigils serve as access points to Nightmare Dungeons, operating akin to keys. However, players lack control over which specific dungeon they unlock.
Consequently, Wanderers must conserve these sigils in their inventory until the corresponding location is revealed, although they can be salvaged once utilized.
To enter a Nightmare Dungeon, players must right-click on a Nightmare Sigil within their inventory, thereby marking the location on the map for easier navigation.
Upon completing these challenges, players will be rewarded with two loot pieces and encounter an altar for Glyph upgrades.
The Paragon Boards in Diablo 4 Season 3 are personalized passive skill trees, offering characters a means to refine their builds with various stats.
As players accrue experience beyond level 50, they’ll earn Paragon Points that can be invested in passive bonuses. It’s important to note that builds are restricted to allocating a maximum of 220 passives.
By utilizing Glyphs, Wanderers can enhance their Paragon Boards, unlocking additional abilities. It’s essential to remember that these boards are tailored to each class and are linked to specific characters.
Upon completing every Act in Diablo 4 Season 3’s main storyline, players gain entry to Helltide areas.
These regions are imbued with the influence of Hell, resulting in stronger enemies and providing an opportunity for players to seek out crystals to unlock special reward caches.
In areas affected by a Helltide, meteors will descend as environmental hazards, elevating the monster level by two above the player’s level. Demons defeated during this event yield Aberrant Cinders, which can be utilized to unlock Tortured Chests scattered throughout the affected region.
Following the Season 3 update, Helltides are now accessible at all times, with only a 5-minute interval between occurrences. Players will encounter these events in World Tier 3: Nightmare difficulty and must confront Helltide Commanders to secure valuable loot.
In Act 5 of the Diablo 4 Season 3 campaign, Wanderers will encounter the Tree of Whisperers, situated in the northeast corner of Hawezar. It stands out unmistakably with its distinctive feature: talking heads suspended from its branches.
Upon completing the main story, players receive a Priority Quest guiding them to interact with the tree, who requests the gathering of Grim Favors obtained through various missions.
It’s important to note that each task yields a different amount of favors:
The primary objective is to accumulate 10 Grim Favors, which can then be exchanged for reward bundles.
The Codex of Power in Diablo 4 Season 3 comprises a compilation of Legendary Aspects that players can imprint onto their Diablo 4 Items at The Occultists. These enhancements are applicable to both Rare & Legendary items.
While the Codex of Power becomes accessible early in the main storyline, acquiring all Aspects may necessitate Wanderers to continue playing even after completing it. This can be achieved by fully exploring every Dungeon within Diablo 4 Season 3's expansive map.
World Bosses are colossal demons that emerge throughout the expanse of Sanctuary's map.
Players may chance upon them randomly, but only after completing the campaign will they begin to receive notifications regarding World Boss appearances.
It's worth noting that this is the sole in-game method of receiving alerts about the impending arrival of these titanic adversaries, although enthusiasts have devised alternative tracking methods.
In Diablo 4, the 3 primary World Bosses are:
Each new season introduces fresh World Bosses for players to confront, presenting an opportunity to test their strength.
Here's a rundown of every World Boss featured during the Diablo 4 Season of the Construct:
Diablo 4 Season 3's Echo of Lilith stands as a Level 100 adversary, epitomizing the ultimate challenge within the game.
This formidable demon manifests in two phases within the Echo of Hatred and is exclusively accessible when playing at World Tier level 4.
Representing a heightened iteration of Lilith, the Echo of Lilith poses a significant escalation in difficulty. According to Joe Piepiora, Diablo 4's Associate Game Director, this encounter is described as a "pinnacle boss encounter."
Piepiora elucidates, "Players who attain level 100 will face an exceedingly challenging ordeal with this boss encounter. The expectation is that you leverage your class, comprehend your build intricately, and have optimized every facet to its fullest potential. Mastery of these elements will be key to potentially overcoming this formidable foe.
Diablo 4 Season 3 debuted Vaults and Nightmare Vaults, presenting players with a fresh variant of Dungeons essential for completing their seasonal journey and confronting the demon Malphas.
As they progress through Diablo 4 Season 3's storyline, players must focus on constructing and enhancing their Seneschal Companions by acquiring Tuning and Governing Stones. These Constructs will fight alongside them to thwart Malphas' allies.
Furthermore, players will encounter Arcane Tremors, localized events demanding confrontation with Constructs to access Obelisks and reap valuable rewards. While traversing Sanctuary, Wanderers will also stumble upon Braziers, a highly praised new PvP mechanic that requires activation to summon Heralds of Malphas and acquire rare materials.