This is how end game works....

[cozmiccc]

Finally, I think I got how Inferno is going to play out. This quote below is from Jay Wilson interview in Australia.

http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/Feature/...much-more.aspx

So we created a fourth difficulty that we call Inferno that is ALL max-level. Max-level for a player is level 60, and so all the monsters at the start of Inferno are level 61, in Act Two they are level 62, in Three and Four they're level 63. And there are items that ONLY drop at level 61, at level 62 and so on; and they're not small number! There's a whole tier of armour in each one.

So, looking at the current item guide such as helm tier:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/helm/#type=common

The last three helms (Tier 14-16) are all requiring level 60 to wear, and Tier 13 is level 59. As Jay said that there are items that ONLY drop at level 61 and so on, I think we can assume that at the end of Hell difficulty only a MAXIMUM of Tier 13 item will drop, then as follows:

Inferno Act 1 : Tier 14
Inferno Act 2 : Tier 15
Inferno Act 3 & 4: Tier 16

So, we won't ever get the chance to even see Tier 16 item before completing Act 2 Inferno. I like this to be honest, that's mean that farming for gears will be an important part of going through Inferno and people can't expect themselves to be able to clear it quickly straight after launch without doing a decent amount of farming.

Looking at the helm example above. The best helm you can get from Hell (Tier 13) will have at best 322 armor, while tier 15 helm from Act 2 Inferno can have a maximum of 397 armor, that's a 23% increase in armor.

I'll leave that up to you to think whether a 23% increase in armor a significant buff or not :P

[beingmused]

Yes, each item type has a version at item level 60, 61, 62, and 63. What we don't know (or if someone does, I don't know) is exactly what monster levels can drop what item levels. Can only mlevel 63 drop Tier 16 items with an ilevel of 63, or is there a small chance of that happening from mlevel 61/62?

[cozmiccc]

Yes, each item type has a version at item level 60, 61, 62, and 63. What we don't know (or if someone does, I don't know) is exactly what monster levels can drop what item levels. Can only mlevel 63 drop Tier 16 items with an ilevel of 63, or is there a small chance of that happening from mlevel 61/62?

Well Jay had said that there are items with ilevel 63 (tier 16 most likely), that can ONLY drop from a level 63 monsters. So I think there is no chance for i63 to drop before Act 3 Inferno....

[konfeta]

So I think there is no chance for i63 to drop before Act 3 Inferno....

If champions/rares/bosses/whatever have +1 or +2 mlvl/ilvl modifiers, you might still see them drop earlier.

[Boudica]

So, we won't ever get the chance to even see Tier 16 item before completing Act 2 Inferno.

This is greate news if its gonna be like that, i rly liked that

[Raesene]

I just hope there isn't some drastic leap between the tiers of loot (similar to how it is in WoW). I don't want the start of every act to feel like a gear check.

[unmoses]

I just hope there isn't some drastic leap between the tiers of loot (similar to how it is in WoW). I don't want the start of every act to feel like a gear check.

Sounds to me like it will be, which of course is their entire philosophy for endgame and inferno action. "you will grind in hell before you can survive in act 1 inferno" I'm sure leads to "you will grind in act 1 inferno before you can survive in act 2" etc etc

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[Gurby]

I think the real end game gear are the lv60 class sets. So I dont care about tiers. Just need to know where the pieces can drop.

[cozmiccc]

I just hope there isn't some drastic leap between the tiers of loot (similar to how it is in WoW). I don't want the start of every act to feel like a gear check.

there is a stat range, for example tier 13 helm has a possible armor range of 285-322, while a tier 14 is 322-358 armor.

Almost no overlap there, but of course the attributes and other stats we don't know yet...

I think the real end game gear is the lv60 class sets. So I dont care about tiers. Just need to know where the pieces can drop.

Uhm... These are all level 60 class sets, basically class sets = tiers, they are the same thing you know :P And as above tier 14 will drop in Act 1 Inferno, tier 15 in Act 2, and so on.... There is no loot table like in WoW if that's what you meant. So a legendary swords can drop off a broken urn or a random zombie, not just from the end boss.

[Eeryck]

I just hope there isn't some drastic leap between the tiers of loot (similar to how it is in WoW). I don't want the start of every act to feel like a gear check.

I think that is a function of perspective. Of course it is a gear check, they have raised the mlvl but your clvl is the same. The only way to overcome that hurdle completely is gear.

But on top of the gear check there is most likely a monster AI tweek, perhaps they let out a few more of the lethal affix combos, etc. that will require skill increase in addition to gear.

What else can you really do to keep difficulty level up?