Diablo III Review Part 2 – Loot and the Auction House
This is the second review in a series for Diablo III. If you missed the initial review and would like to read it first, you can do so here.
If there is one thing I’ve pursued more than women, it’s loot in a Blizzard game. Why do you raid in World of Warcraft? To get better loot. Why do you need better loot? To raid in WoW… and so the cycle continues. It may even predate the chicken and the egg, but I’m not sure who is counting on that one. And now yet again, we find ourselves grinding and farming for that illusive best-in-slot item.
The loot in Diablo knows few bounds. Most creatures drop some type of loot, and the harder the mob, the better the loot… in theory. It is a great feeling to see those little gold words pop out of a monster after you slay it. But make sure you slay all the monsters first before messing with picking up gear. That mouse pointer can be a bit of a jerk when you’re trying to grab a shiny from in-between two gargantuan nasties. Better just to wipe them all out before paying the iron price (winter is coming). It can also be a little frustrating to check what that gold loot is only to find out it’s for a different hero (who am I kidding, that’s ridiculously frustrating). So how do you solve this dilemma? You have a few choices: play with friends or make multiple heroes, giving loot to the corresponding hero; or you can dive into the wonderful world of the auction house.
It's mine... my own... my... precious!
As of now, the auction house is incredibly inflated. There aren’t enough players in Inferno Mode for there to be much competition in prices, so there’s a general oligarchy when it comes to price control (you can check off your economics lesson for today). That being said, it stills gives you the option of selling your black sheep loot and buying some for yourself. Don’t have enough gold? Wait for the auction house update that will let you use real money to buy items. Now take a moment to bow down to Blizzard’s genius.
The auction house itself is similar to the one in WoW. Search by hero, equipment slot, stats, etc. You can get to the auction house from the hero select screen without even going into the game. From there, you can buy from others or sell from your stash (chest that allows you to easily transfer loot in between your heroes). And you can check what each of your heroes currently has equipped.
View of the auction house.
Just getting started in Diablo III? Check out the auction house to see what you can get cheap to boost your leveling process. Otherwise, grind and farm until you get what you want. Having trouble getting through Inferno? The auction house may be able to help, but be prepared to hand over a hefty portion of your gold to get there. You can always farm the most recent boss a few times to try to get better loot, either for yourself or to sell. Chances are if you’re having trouble with loot, the auction house may just be your best friend.
