Are weapons just part of your appearance now?

[Karpalo]

Weapon types for DH seem to be surprisingly even damage wise. Naturally only one can be best in slot, but when we are not talking about the very best of the best weapon they seem to be surprisingly even base value wise. That being said it would look like certain weapons offer synergies with certain builds.

DH will be quite tough nut to crack since resource system is quite a lot more complex than it is on other classes. It's hard to say what will be the winning formula before we get access to more game content. Everything needs to be factored ranging from fight duration, idle time between packs, pack size, discipline generation and stuff like whenever night stalker has normalized attack speed formula etc.

[imthedan]

Yeah, I think the DH will be much different in the full game than it is in the beta. I never have to use Disciple unless I pop the attack speed buff. In the full game, I suspect I'll have to use more of the disciple skills to stay alive.

[hellfurion]

I always thought that weapons are more of a cosmetic thing in-game.

[Abomb]

Yeah, I think the DH will be much different in the full game than it is in the beta. I never have to use Disciple unless I pop the attack speed buff. In the full game, I suspect I'll have to use more of the disciple skills to stay alive.

You'll also likely have many more ways to spend that discipline, so yes it will be much different in the full game.

Although I find myself using vault way more than attack speed buff, simple because everything falls over in the beta if you gear your character.

[Nizaris]

I don't see how D3 is different. Perhaps it is just due to my perception of the game, but with my experience, there's plenty of weapon usage in both games (Diablo 3 and Diablo 2) and that is very related to the character you end up playing (such as the Sorceress in Diablo 2, or the Elemental Druid, etc.). Personally, I think the fact that our heroes gain assets that extend beyond their basic weapon creates character depth.

For instance, Ancient Spear for the Barbarian really adds depth to the hero, as it gives him a new weapon, in essence. And this goes for all of the heroes. The DH is clearly my hero, so it's been very weapon-oriented for me. I've played all the classes and there was never wont for more. This is clearly my opinion, but I feel it's a fairly reasonable one.

One other thing I'd like to touch on is your complaint that skills are spammable. And some of them are meant to be. From what I understand, they are designing skills to revolve on a generator/spender paradigm that will scale in such a way that the balancing act of resource management becomes much more pronounced as you progress in levels.

I am currently lazy, but there are direct quotes addressing this - stating that this "tutorial" section is designed in such a way that most skills will be spammable - for both their desire to get you acquainted with the new skills and to increase accessibility for those first 13 levels.

[Srikandi]

I would be happier if more of the attacks in the beta that APPEAR to use your weapon -- that is, where the weapon is involved in the attack animation. This is particularly true for Monk and the Demon Hunter. The Demon Hunter pulls all kinds of throwing weapons out of her... high heels, whereas the Monk appears to be fighting bare-handed even if you give him a big staff.

Yes, it is purely an aesthetic gripe I think the mechanics are fine, and I have no doubt that resources will become an issue down the line. Probably the reason for it is the cost of animating every skill multiple ways for different weapon types, and I can see why they'd avoid that :/

[CoQui]

Ok, after going back to play the beta. (Yes I got a bit tired of it as it gets repetitive quickly once you play through it a bunch of times...), I took more attention to what I was nitpicking on. I guess it's just the simplicity of gaining mana/regeneration of what you need to put out spells. It's so damn fast, I feel like I never have to worry about being in a pickle. That or the beta is just too damn easy that it feels like a 4 year old could get to the end with ease of just using the mouse to click on stuff and no actual comprehension of what he/she is doing. I have never been in danger of dying ever in the beta or even getting close to it. The fact that I can use unlimited spells which are all pretty much 1 shot killers, I feel I'm never in danger. A LOT of times in Diablo 1 and 2 I found myself hacking away with my weapon in hand because I was out of mana or felt it wasn't appropriate moment to waste mana and decided to hack away instead. There is none of that so far in the beta...
Also, someone mentioned about the lack of animation with weapons using spells. I do agree with that and wasn't really aware of it but knew something wasn't right when I was playing the monk class. You have a weapon that seems to just disappear out of his hands every time you cast your spells with the animations of his fists flying or kicking something. I don't know how much of a nitpick that is but when your spamming that spell over and over, seeing the same exact animation, it gets old... I don't know, maybe my expectations were too high over the amount of time they are taking to polish it... Oh well. They still got my preorder, so I'm hoping for bigger, better things to come in the final, and YES, MAKE ME FEAR DEATH AGAIN!!!

[Hokuto no Ken]

yes because there were so many nail biting encounters in the first 1/3 of act 1 in diablo 2....

[Illmattic]

Play a barb you will run up and hit said monster with your weapon.

Play a wizard and hit said monster with your spell.

I don't really see any difference coming from d2, and if you don't like how a particular class plays try another one. Of course some classes will use spells more then others. How many times did you see a sorc (after lvl 10) hitting mobs with their staff?

[Illmattic]

yes because there were so many nail biting encounters in the first 1/3 of act 1 in diablo 2....

Well said. Gave me a good laugh