Level 50 Sorceress in Season One of Diablo 4

Season one dropped on Thursday and here it is Sunday, and I'm level 50 on my new Sorceress. Super happy with the class so far, but the cries of pain from the Diablo 4 players since the latest patch has been hard to ignore. All one has to do is read down through the comments on their developer video and you know. You just KNOW it's bad. Guess which class everyone says is now on the bottom tier? The Sorcerer. That's exactly why I'm playing the class to be honest. 

I love playing the underdog, but let's keep it real. I haven't played at the tip top of the game, grinding Nightmare Dungeons at the upper tiers of level 100. Because of that, I'll probably never know the gripes people are complaining about. Probably . . . I mean, there's still a couple months left in the season, right? Plenty of time!

To be honest, I've been thoroughly enjoying playing at level 48-50. I feel like I've come into my power. I got a sick unique staff that makes fireballs more awesome. All my Malignant jewels come with a nice padding of armor, so the run to 50 has been pretty nice. Best of all, my snake!! SNAAAAAKKKKE! 

via GIPHY

Unlike the druid where I didn't even use my ultimate, with sorceress it was my priority one as soon as I could train it. Back at the launch of the game I'd occasionally see people using the fire snake ultimate and kinda fell in love with it. You cast it and it sucks everything into a nice tight circle, then for those few seconds you get a mana free splurge of firewalls, hydras, fireballs, and whatever-else-you-got while the snake does over 200 percent damage. It's just fun!

BURN THEM ALL!

I'm going pure fire with my build, and while that may be a bad decision since all the guides are saying you really should go with an ice build to survive end game, I just like lighting things up. Guides be damned . . . DAMNED WITH FIRE!

I can't wait to start getting more legendary weapon drops here in Nightmare so I can really start figuring out my build. This run up to 50 in three days time (that's fast for me -- especially compared to my last time leveling to 50) has been so fast and furious that I just haven't got a ton of gear that's stayed equipped for a long period of time. Now that I'm getting level 600+ gear rating items, things are going to be getting a bit more permanent. Of course, gear changing quickly is part of the fun, so . . . my interest may be dropping unless the cool gear be dropping. Come on, game! Drop it like it's HOT!

Behold the Staff of Endless Rage!

Overall I've enjoyed exploring the new malignant tunnels and fighting the malignant enemies found in Season one. The doubled up boss fights are interesting, but they do slow things down a bit. I think I'll find myself grinding those tunnels a bit trying to get the Omnipower jewel. Basically it's a super drain of mana that launches a mass of powered up projectiles. Figuring out how to use it most efficiently will be interesting.

Hope you're also enjoying Season One in Diablo 4! Drop me a note in the comments and let me know what's up for you! Hope you're all doing well.

Happy Dueling!

Battle Bows has officially launched!

Really excited to announce that Battle Bows is now live on Steam and Oculus! Our Launch Trailer has been published on IGN, and I even was asked to help make a developer tips and tricks video for new players to watch! Check it out!

It all started back in March 2022 when the Design team at WIMO constructed a pitch deck that presented 10 ideas to the company for analysis. The game idea that rose to the top is what would become Battle Bows as launched today!

Open open open open

I had the honor to be part of the initial team that led the charge to experiment with WIMO's first VR game, and yeah, I absolutely look back to those days with fondness. There's nothing quite like shooting a white polygon noodle out of a controller like it's an arrow. 

I transitioned out of working on outsourced mobile games to strictly working on VR games at that time, and then full production hit in late 2022. Things went much faster with an entire dedicated team and some funding behind it. 

The game turned out great and has been polished and optimized with a lot of care. The game also considers those that may get sick in VR with some built in accessibility features -- you won't have to move around much, further minimizing VR sickness. With its accessibility, multiplayer, and fun style, we're hoping it makes a great party game that the whole family can enjoy.

If you have a VR headset, please jump in and give it a shot. If you're looking for more Battle Bows videos, check out a few of them that were posted before the game launched.

• Awaken Toast: https://youtu.be/juSeO0evNlA
• Jeaire: https://youtu.be/zyU8EXo6WWk
• Otterworldly: https://youtu.be/zGlH8rS_LGY
• BMFVR: https://youtu.be/pAKt1-5TYyo
• Soul Fox Gaming: https://youtu.be/WsQ-qnaAKHU
• Beardo Benjo: https://youtu.be/8oczd2PPxb8

Congratulations to the whole team at WIMO! Everyone did an amazing job and created a really fun VR game.

Happy Dueling!

Level 84 -- Prime Drops with a side of What to do next in Diablo IV

Just checking back in to say I'm now Level 84 in Diablo . . . I'm also Keeper level 23 in Niantic's cuter AR mobile game, Peridot, but for some reason I don't think you care about that. 

Laser pointers and Peridot, entertaining the human and the cat at the same time.

I personally find the need to level to 100 non-existent. Honestly, it makes zero difference to me if I hit the level cap or not. The reality of the end game is that it's all about paragon points, gear, and glyphs. The hope is that once you reach level 100 you'll be able to take on Uber Lilith in the End Cap dungeon of Tier IV. Mmm . . . it's not enough motivation for me yet. Maybe in the future. 

My guess is that it's going to be ok to stop leveling here at level 85 and just be patient. Eventually the Devs will add some extra end-game system flavor and then it'll be fun to work through those last 15 levels. I don't think that'll happen soon. 

OH Hey! Did you all get the Prime Gaming Bundle for Diablo IV?! I actually really like the look of the Brackish Fetch Mount Armor Bundle. It matches my favorite area in the game. 

Free is Free! Better pick that up!

So, the question then becomes . . . if all I have in me is the strength to level my druid 1 more level, what comes next? June 2023 was absolutely consumed with Diablo IV, and trying to make Earth Magic Sexy. When I wasn't playing Diablo IV, I was thinking about Diablo IV. So, let's explore my options:

1- Just step away until Season 1 hits -- absolutely viable. I've got a ton of games to play and especially VR games. might be good to go on hiatus and just start stocking up posts for Blaugust. (Assuming there will be a Blaugust 2023 announced any day now.)

2- Re-spec my Druid -- I made Earth magic sexy, but now I could really experiment with the other builds that are out there. I don't think I'd try to suffer my way through it all on my own again. I think I'd probably go with a guide's build and see how it goes.

3- Play a different class -- The new underdog class seems to be the Sorcerer! It could be fun to give that one a try, but I might just save it for Season 1.

4- Take suggestions from you all -- Remember the good ol' days when the crew gave me a list of games to try? April 2021 was where it was at!  My readers had me playing Pokemon Red and Donkey Kong Country. That was such a fun time! Two games I would have never tried unless you all suggested them.

Anyway, thank you all for reading and cheering me on. It's always appreciated.

Happy Dueling!

Who's Ready for Season 1 of Diablo 4?!

Per news from the Diablo 4 Game Launcher and News Site, our very first season of the game is coming in just a couple weeks time:

Corruption has befallen Sanctuary in Season of the Malignant, the first Season of Diablo IV. On July 20 at 10 a.m. PDT, a new Season Journey, Questline, Boss, Dungeons, Battle Pass, and more will go live—we’ll give you a preview below. On July 18, we’ll release another article shedding even more light on what’s coming with the new Season, including 6 new Unique Items and 7 Legendary Aspects.

Oo! I'm all in for this.

To be honest, I'm not sure how much more of the Diablo IV Druid I can take, so this will be a welcome change. I'm currently up to Level 82 and Currently doing almost exactly what I've been doing for the past 20 levels: Helltides, Whispers, World Bosses, Legion Events, and Nightmare Dungeons. Over and over and over and over.

I had a friend of mine who just turned 100 on his Necromancer. According to him the level grind from 85 to 100 takes about the same time as the level grind from 1 to 85. That's quite the exp level curve!  It reminds me of what it felt like to level from 50 to 60 in Everquest back in the day.  (Nah, leveling from 50 to 60 in Everquest was way harder.)

I did finally clear the entire map, which was nice. Really all it took was finding 4 or 5 random out of the way areas of the map that I somehow missed while leveling and finding the Lilith Statues. 

That was a fun hidden spot in Fractured Peaks!

Unfortunately I can't seem to make the hurdle jump between Tier 39 and Tier 40 Nightmare dungeons to earn that next achievement. To be honest though, it's not really giving me a ton of boost for all that effort running a Tier 39 dungeon.  I should just stick to the lower Tier 30's. It's the most bang for the buck on exp.

An unsuccessful Tier 41 run . . . still fun . . . but, yes, unsuccessful

I will say that the most fun I have in game right now are with the open world events.  Helltides.com is now up and running every time I play. I need to know when stuff is happening and it's the perfect site for tracking it all down.

Helltides is Super Fun! Probably my favorite thing in game.

So there you go!  We've got 2 weeks to wrap things up before Season 1 happens! Best of luck to you all and I hope to see you taking down the Malignant by my side.

Happy Dueling!