Really great post. I too have never died to desync and couldn't really understand why other people had such issues with it. You concisely summed up things that just seemed like common sense.Movement skills desync more than everything else. I've played almost exclusively hardcore, and I have never died to desyn. I've desynced like everyone at some point, but I desync very rarely(even when I had to play on the US gateway due to my routing to euro one being fucked so I had 90-130ping). Part of it is understanding what cause desyncs, and not doing these things.
I never run through mobs unless absolutely necessary and even then I'll take the safest path possible(which is away from as many monsters as possible, since most desyncs are caused by pathing being blocked by mobs and rubberbanding back once the server sends the client a fuck you message). I always use Shift(technically space since rebound)+attack as a melee in tight places/buildings/doors/wherever a desync would matter, which ends up being almost everywhere unless I'm like powerlvling in full uniques and there's literally 0risks of dying. I don't spam movement abilities, I use them a few times then force a resync with /oos or by simply breaking jars/crates by clicking on them., unless I'm spamming them to navigate through an empty area or through a low level area(farming normal gems by running alts with my high lvl).
I've never done a leapslam or flicker build because of how unreliable they are, but did level as leap slam with 2H for a bit, mostly in normal, low risk to die to desync at that point, no point since Spectral Throw addition though. I always keep an eye for stuff that looks out of place, mobs not attacking me even though they're in melee range, traps not being thrown or being thrown from another location, these are a clear sign of desync and I'll /oos right away.
Oh and I don't fuck around with Brutus/Kole, I skip Kole almost always, or I facetank them. I will sometimes range kill them but I will always stay at long range, expect to get pulled even though I shouldn't, and definitely NEVER run around pillars or random shit as a way to kite them, as that will always desync them(especially brutus has a lot of walls like that in the room and if you start kiting around them, you're gonna get fucked, hell he can actually bodyblock you against a wall easily).
I didn't die often overall. I mostly died to playing recklessly while leveling and running into a bunch of shit that I shoudn't have ran into, or against bosses like merc vaal(low armor/health, got rocked three times in a row) or merc piety(including one death to her getting both ice and fireform at the same time, shooting arrows while moving at max speed, fun times). At the very least this game lets you log out/port out near instantly if there's a major fuckup, so it's not as easy to die to something out of your control. If you play D3 HC, you'll die anytime you lose your connection for example.
I had the same problem. I was making up some shit that I knew couldn't possibly be taken. I think it's just an algorithm rejecting the names but still saying it's "taken" instead of "rejected."This is the most annoying game for picking a name. I've literally just typed random shit and it's all taken. Fucking pissing me off.
Wel, spoke too soon, just died to desync at lvl 45 going through the Vaal ruins with a lightning-strike Scion. I should have kept my mouth shut, lol.I exclusively play hardcore, and I've never died to a desync. Then again, I tend to not play melee builds, and the few I do play definitely aren't fast-moving ones (flicker strike, ground slam, lightning warp, etc). I tend to lean towards ranged builds more than anything (casters and bow builds) and desync is not an issue with those at all.
No loot drop differences at all, unfortunately.So are there massive loot increases on hardcore? I've gotten 5 chaos(0 in normal) and 2 uniques(0 in normal) and I'm not even through act 3 yet. Playing a spectral throw char and gettign a wideswing poleaxe at level 19 has been pretty fun I'll tell yuo that.
"You know nothing Jon Snow."The last half of Act III was tacked on recently after about a year of the game ending at Piety. The difficulty leap is ridiculous and they don't really seem to care. I think you have to get into Act III Cruel before you find something as difficult as Normal Dominus. As you noted, the problem is only exacerbated by the fact that this game has the worst, most stingy and unrewarding loot system ever to exist in the history of video gaming.
Can anyone give me a rundown on what mobs to look out for that can tear me up quickly/deadly mob affixes? Only on normal atm and the only thing I worry about is Vaal."You know nothing Jon Snow."
On normal not that much, but the fire dogs on the docks and also in the scepter of god on a certain floor(both in act3) can easily kill people without decent fire resist especially ones with multiple projectiles. The flicker strike mobs in general can be dangerous, you see them in act1(pirates in the optional ghost cove cave thing where you get the alflame), act2(spiders in the spider lair) and act3(undying guys in the sewers/zone before market). Lightning trap miniboss in scepter of god level 3 can be very dangerous depending on spec and resists. Devourers in general can be dangerous(they spawn in dark forest in act2 and in the hedge garden in act3). Kole in Lunaris 2 is extremely dangerous if not using a tanky build. Other than that, Vaal, Piety and Dominus all have decent risks involved if you misplay or are not geared defensive enough.Can anyone give me a rundown on what mobs to look out for that can tear me up quickly/deadly mob affixes? Only on normal atm and the only thing I worry about is Vaal.
I made a character named WomenAreObjects so no, I don't think there is any algorithm. That name lasted about 15 minutes.I had the same problem. I was making up some shit that I knew couldn't possibly be taken. I think it's just an algorithm rejecting the names but still saying it's "taken" instead of "rejected."