I decided to start over. As noted in this previous post, I was finding Diablo 3 on “Normal” way too easy and therefore not fun, so after starting Act III, I decided to suck it up and restart the game on a higher difficulty. After hearing from my sister that “Difficult” was still easy enough to button-mash your way through, I opted for “Master 1.” And while I loved the Monk and would have liked to see her reach her full potential, I chose the Wizard for this playthrough, after reading that it’s one of the more challenging character classes.
I almost regretted my decision during my first few hours of play, as the game was way hard (and I knew how foolish I’d feel if I went from too easy to too hard by jumping two difficulty levels). I actually had to grind out a couple of levels in order to beat the Skeleton King. However, the game is definitely more interesting this way. It actually matters which follower I choose (I’m sticking with the Templar for now), and I sometimes have to use the blacksmith in order to make stronger weapons and armor than what is getting dropped.
Speaking of dropped armor, toward the end of Act I a monster dropped a pair of legendary pants, the Pox Faulds. In addition to a high armor rating, they provide boosts to intelligence and vitality, which makes them perfect for my wizard. Intriguingly, the item description had an extra note that “These pants sometimes make you stink,” presumably because they are “made from the treated of skin of plague victims.” I like when games include weird little humorous elements like this, so I was extra-pleased with the pants.
What I didn’t expect was that after wearing them for a few seconds, my character would emit a greenish cloud, and a buff labeled “Stinky” would appear over the HUD. It disappeared after a few seconds, but returned with a puff of smoke/gas in regular intervals. The best part? The stinky cloud damages enemies who pass through it. It’s pretty ridiculous, but I like it. It’s nice when games don’t take themselves too seriously.
For now, I’ll keep working on my new playthrough with an additional skill of sorts… fart attack!
Food and Games 