Does vitality still matter as much?

[GIJoeWWW]

I was happy. Killed Inferno butcher on my first try. Easier than I had remembered. I have been moving pretty smoothly through Inferno act I. But my spirit was quickly dashed. Act II is hard. It is basically russian roulette. Either I kill them first, or they hit me and kill me. Should I go all out for damage, even it means sacrificing some vitality? Currently, I have around 31k life and 30k dps. Any advice is appreciated.

[lucidlore]

After act 1 it matters less, but you should still not let it dip too low. I think I'm sitting at around 14k hp and while that's perfectly fine for me, I'd still like to get it a bit over 20k. Vit is always helpful, but I've been operating at a max dps or bust mindset, and it has worked out well so far.

[karatedan]

yea, I'm with lucidore on this one. My DH initially had about 32k health and 30k DPS. She could run Act 2, occasionally running into some crazy mobs, but it wasn't as fast as I hoped for. I was getting 1-shotted anyway, so I decided to up my damage and sacrifice health and resis. Now she's at 21k health and 47k DPS with 228 Crit damage. Act 2 farming now goes 10x faster. I don't know the facts, but I believe the majority of the DHs out there are more glass cannon than balance or vita.

[Karth]

On the other hand, vitality can matter even more since it is now possible to get enough vitality/armor/all res (and still maintain dps) and survive at least one hit from pretty much any non-avoidable attack. Before, it often didn't pay to bother trying, since so many attacks were going to 1-shot you no matter what lengths you went to, assuming you weren't wealthy enough to have almost perfect gear in every slot. Glass cannon is still perfectly viable of course.

[ssamcjames]

Unless you're exceptionally good at avoiding attacks, the upped repair costs really hamper glass cannon builds. The NT fix also made killing stuff before it kills you even more difficult. With reduced elite damage, I think vitality is more important than ever.

Personally, I've got about 55k HP, 38k DPS, and pretty high resists. I played a glass cannon before the patch, but I so much prefer this way. I can't remember the last time I died in Act 1, and I can move through Act 3 easily (albeit somewhat slowly.)

[GKAR]

I am all about a balanced character. I prefer Dex and Vit both. Although with Nat's gear I get hit less and less, it's still nice to have that buffer so that I rarely get 1-shotted, even in Inferno Act 3 & 4.

Dex: 1908
Vit: 1362

Oh, and I find that armor is of course important, what really seems to make a difference for me is dodge chance and dmg reduction.
With dodge chance it seems all I have to be doing is moving and the projectile/swipe, etc, is a miss. Even with Elites, they miss so long as I am in the process of backing off.
Dodge Chance - 39.1%

Dmg reduction is another one that serves me well:
Dmg Reduction: 60.20%

Hope this helps.

[GIJoeWWW]

It is always nice to have both. But for someone with limited fund, sacrifices have to be made. Currently gold-farming in Act I, and slowly upgrading my equipment.

I am all about a balanced character. I prefer Dex and Vit both. Although with Nat's gear I get hit less and less, it's still nice to have that buffer so that I rarely get 1-shotted, even in Inferno Act 3 & 4.

Dex: 1908
Vit: 1362

Oh, and I find that armor is of course important, what really seems to make a difference for me is dodge chance and dmg reduction.
With dodge chance it seems all I have to be doing is moving and the projectile/swipe, etc, is a miss. Even with Elites, they miss so long as I am in the process of backing off.
Dodge Chance - 39.1%

Dmg reduction is another one that serves me well:
Dmg Reduction: 60.20%

Hope this helps.