06-04-2012, 08:59 PM
Some thoughts on the Blacksmith. I've settled on three factors that play into his usefulness: AH, Rushing, and Twinking. Might as well talk about each separately.
AH
This one is a bit obvious, but people who use the AH understandably find less use in the Blacksmith. Just from the vast number of people playing and the cheapness of gold costs (from hearing people refer to the cost of AH stuff) it is just easier to buy gear than craft it.
Rushing
In the podcast Roland mentioned making a point of going back into hell so he would be 60 for inferno. This was a huge shock to me since the people I've been playing with have been hitting 60 in Act 2 of Hell. Now we play hardcore and so have good reason to take things slower and thus the difference makes sense. However it does explain some why the Blacksmith would seem less useful. If you hit 60 in Act 2 Hell and have your Blacksmith fully upgraded for hell then he has some crafts that are just huge upgrades for you (shields and shoulders come to mind.) This was the case in Nightmare too. Specifically there was one sword... the Illustrious Raid Sword... that our witchdoctors, wizard, and barbarian all started churning out during Act 4 nightmare because it was an absolutely huge upgrade for us. It requires level 47 though and I'm betting other people were partway through Hell at that level which would push the level range of drops back ahead of it and thus make the Blacksmith seem useless again. So it is all about the level range of drops, of your character, and what the Blacksmith can make at that level. If you aren't rushing then the Blacksmith pulls ahead of drops and can be a huge advantage.
Twinking
Treesh mentioned hardcore people storing old rares so when they die they have back up items for their characters. Myself (and some others) have been purposefully not doing this cause it just trivializes so much of the game. Similarly, for somebody who doesn't use the AH nor pass down old gear, the Blacksmith is hugely overpowering. I had a monk in Act 2 Nightmare that I lost to a disconnect that felt so overpowered just because I let her use up my leftover mats in the blacksmith. It was such a problem that when I remade her I decided to only use mats she actually salvaged herself. Using the Blacksmith just made it to where the old one could steamroll anything without thought.
So to sum up, I agree that if you use the AH or if you keep your level on par with the drop level (calling it Rushing earlier was unfair since it is really keeping pace with the drops where as us HC people let our level get ahead of the gear drops) then you find less use for the Blacksmith. If you play slower and don't use the AH then the Blacksmith becomes very strong and useful. Even for my new Monk it is a key part of her play. Like right now she is 33 in Act 1 Nightmare and I'm purposefully not spending any mats I find so that in 3 levels when the lvl 36 rare fist weapons open up to be crafted she will be able to make at least two (if not 3-4). Those will quite possibly double the damage she does. I actually worry that using the Blacksmith at all makes the game too easy even limiting mats to what is found. It just often feels over-powering if you know how to use it to get key upgrades at certain levels and play such that your level doesn't catch up or get ahead of the content.
Anyway, I just thought I would chime in since my experience with the Blacksmith seemed to be different from those voiced in the podcast.
AH
This one is a bit obvious, but people who use the AH understandably find less use in the Blacksmith. Just from the vast number of people playing and the cheapness of gold costs (from hearing people refer to the cost of AH stuff) it is just easier to buy gear than craft it.
Rushing
In the podcast Roland mentioned making a point of going back into hell so he would be 60 for inferno. This was a huge shock to me since the people I've been playing with have been hitting 60 in Act 2 of Hell. Now we play hardcore and so have good reason to take things slower and thus the difference makes sense. However it does explain some why the Blacksmith would seem less useful. If you hit 60 in Act 2 Hell and have your Blacksmith fully upgraded for hell then he has some crafts that are just huge upgrades for you (shields and shoulders come to mind.) This was the case in Nightmare too. Specifically there was one sword... the Illustrious Raid Sword... that our witchdoctors, wizard, and barbarian all started churning out during Act 4 nightmare because it was an absolutely huge upgrade for us. It requires level 47 though and I'm betting other people were partway through Hell at that level which would push the level range of drops back ahead of it and thus make the Blacksmith seem useless again. So it is all about the level range of drops, of your character, and what the Blacksmith can make at that level. If you aren't rushing then the Blacksmith pulls ahead of drops and can be a huge advantage.
Twinking
Treesh mentioned hardcore people storing old rares so when they die they have back up items for their characters. Myself (and some others) have been purposefully not doing this cause it just trivializes so much of the game. Similarly, for somebody who doesn't use the AH nor pass down old gear, the Blacksmith is hugely overpowering. I had a monk in Act 2 Nightmare that I lost to a disconnect that felt so overpowered just because I let her use up my leftover mats in the blacksmith. It was such a problem that when I remade her I decided to only use mats she actually salvaged herself. Using the Blacksmith just made it to where the old one could steamroll anything without thought.
So to sum up, I agree that if you use the AH or if you keep your level on par with the drop level (calling it Rushing earlier was unfair since it is really keeping pace with the drops where as us HC people let our level get ahead of the gear drops) then you find less use for the Blacksmith. If you play slower and don't use the AH then the Blacksmith becomes very strong and useful. Even for my new Monk it is a key part of her play. Like right now she is 33 in Act 1 Nightmare and I'm purposefully not spending any mats I find so that in 3 levels when the lvl 36 rare fist weapons open up to be crafted she will be able to make at least two (if not 3-4). Those will quite possibly double the damage she does. I actually worry that using the Blacksmith at all makes the game too easy even limiting mats to what is found. It just often feels over-powering if you know how to use it to get key upgrades at certain levels and play such that your level doesn't catch up or get ahead of the content.
Anyway, I just thought I would chime in since my experience with the Blacksmith seemed to be different from those voiced in the podcast.