Uberboss Stun Build

This barbarian build is for killing the ubers and helping to controll them with stuns. You can wear your normal gear which provides most damage and most survibility. Two 1hand weapons would be more optimal then a 2hand weapon, because of the faster attack speed.

 If you must increase your damage you should buy following weapon. "The Three Hundredth Spear"
High damage, a socket and high weapon throw damage would be ideal.



A further item to increase your damage would be a Stone of Jordan with 30% increased damage against elites. Reduced Weapon Throw fury cost is only useful if you also have a belt with reduced weapon throw fury cost otherwise it would be counter productive. You should have a total of 8 or 9 reduced fury cost. If you have 10 it won't work and your weapon throw will cost 10 fury and not 0 fury as estimated.

Skills

 

Skill #1 (Left Mouse)
Weapon Throw (Throwing Hammer)

Skill #2 (Right Mouse)
Ancient Spear (Dread Spear)

Skill #3 (1)
Overpower (Crushing Advance)

Skill #4 (2)
Wrath of the Berserker (Thrive on Chaos)

Skill #5 (3)
Battle Rage (Into the Fray)

Skill #6 (4)
War Cry (Impunity)

Passiv #1
Ruthless

Passiv #2
Weapons Master

Passiv #3
No Escape

Skill Calculator


Alternative if you have 8 or 9 reduced fury cost for weapon throw.
You can change Battle Rage rune into Marauder's Rage or Bloodshed for more damage or 3rd Passiv No Escape for a defensive passiv.

If you have reduced fury cost for weapon throw and battle rage (into the fray) and no escape you will gain to much fury and you must spent it with spamming battle rage, because if you are at full rage you won't get enough rage for keeping wrath of the berserker all the time.

Ancient Spear is for the start of the fight to get rage and later to heal yourself.
Overpower is your defensive button.

Ubers

King Leoric and Mahgda
The difficult's encounter on high monster power.

Two Strategies
1. All focus King Leoric

2. You stun Mahgda. All other stay on King Leoric and kill the skeletons, which are summoned by him, because they could be a problem for you. It's very important that you don't damage Mahgda to much or she will be immune and summon her adds. Sure you can damage her lower then 75%, but then you should cordinate it with your team mates, that they help you to kill her summoned adds as fast as possible.


Siege Breaker and Zoltun Kulle
Two Strategies
1. A melee or a well geared cm wizard tank Siege Breaker on the left or right side of the room. You and the other group members focus and kill Zoltun Kulle. Your stuns will help your group and especially your ranged partners to stay alive againts Zoltun Kulle.

2. You tank Siege Breaker on the left or right side of the room. The other group members focus and kill Zoltun Kulle. If you have problems with tanking Siege Breaker, you can wear a shield and/or use a loh weapon in your second slot. Damage should not be your assignment as long as Zoltun Kulle is alive.

Keep in mind, that you don't stun Siege Breaker if he grasps one of your team mates, because he won't let him free if you stun him during your team mate is grasped.


Ghom and Raknoth
This is the easiest encounter. Just focus with all other group members ghom, but if your group will move him out of the cloud you must switch to Raknoth. Other tactic is that you stay all time on Raknoth. Only problem for you are the small adds, which should be killed by your group members aoe damage.


Barbarian Guide Overview

Keyfarmer (Barbarian) - Part II from II

This is the second part of my guide. Here you can find part I.

We already talked about gear and weapon choices.
Here you can see my Skorn. It was cheap, but it's very effective.

Furthermore I wear a Hellfire Ring, IK helm, IK belt, IK boots and Tyrael's Might.

I have following stats unbuffed without follower

Charakter Screen Damage: 93.939
Life 45.115
Armor 5.172 (63,29%)
All Resistance 542
Life Steal 2.9%


Strength: 1.960
Vitality: 1.143
critical hit chance 48,5 %
critical hit damage 436%

Keywarden - Act I - Farming Route

Startquest: 9. The Imprisoned Angel - The Cursed Hold

Waypoint: The Festering Woods
2 Elite Packs inside Warrior's Rest and Crypt of the Ancients

1-2 Elite Packs in the Festering Woods

Waypoint: Leoric's Manor
running back
1-2 Elite Packs outside

Waypoint: Cemetry of the Forsaken
1-2 Elite Packs inside the Defiled Crypts

Keywarden
Waypoint: Fields of Misery
This area is big and the Keywarden can be everywhere.

 

 

Keywarden - Act II - Farming Route

Startquest: 8. The Black Soulstone - Soulstone Chamber

Preparation: Get Checkpoint in Vault of Assasin 
You can find it in Desolate Sands, therefore use low Monster Power and use Sprint to find it. Get checkpoint then change skills and leave game and start your farming session on higher Monster Power.

Start Checkpoint Vault of Assasin
4-5 Elite Packs

Waypoint: Road to Alcarnus
1-2 Elite Pack in Alcarnus (Alternative if you don't get 5 Nephalem Valor Buffs)

Keywarden
Waypoint: Path to the Oasis
Start your run from the sout of the Dahlgur Oasis.

 

Keywarden - Act III - Farming Route

Startquest: 7. Heart of Sin - Kill Azmodan

Waypoint: The Core of Arreat
2-3 Elite Packs

Waypoint: Tower of the Damned Level 1
run in a circle back to the waypoint
1-2 Elite Packs

Waypoint: The Bridge of Korsikk
this area could be a little bit harder. If you have problems use next step.
2-3 Elite Packs

Waypoint: The Keep Depths Level 1
going down to Level 2
2-3 Elite Packs

Keywarden
Waypoint: Stonefort



Barbarian Guide Overview

Why I don't like ww/sprint!

ww/sprint builds are one of most efficient builds for farming experience or items, but I don't like them and this have some reasons.

• I don't like the playstyle. I want stay in front of the monster and slay them, not running around or the monsters or away from them.
• If an item or gold drops, I don't want run back to pick it up.
• I don't want to have disadvantages if I take some more seconds to pick up items. If you don't speed up, you can't mantain Wrath of the Berserker.
• I don't like the fury management. It's mandatory to have enough fury all the time for sprint.

Maybe I'm a little bit lazy in some points.

I like fast runs and sprinting around, but I don't like the feeling to have a disadvantage if I take 2 more seconds to pick up an item and my Wrath of the Berserker is running out or I don't have enough fury for further sprints after killing a group of monsters. Sometimes I play a HotA build also with sprint (marathon), wrath of the berserker (into the fray) on low monster power , but this build is much more forgivable. You can find this HotA build soon in this blog. - Fast Solo Farm Build on low Monster Power # 2

Keyfarmer (Barbarian)- Part I from II

This barbarian guide is for key farming or group play on high monster power.
I can farm solo with moderate gear on mp8. Sure it could be a little bit faster with better gear, but it's ok for me.

To farm on high monster power you need enough survivability, damage and life return. One cheap method is to use the skill Rend with Blood Lust and Rend works at the best with a 2hand weapon, this leads us to following skill set.

Skill Set

Skill #1 (Left Mouse)
Our main fury generator and damage skill will be Cleave or Bash. There are many different combinations possible. I prefer Cleave with Broad Sweep.

Cleave (Broad Sweep)
generates 5 fury - 175% aoe weapon damage
The best solution in my opinion, because of the aoe damage.

Bash (Punish)
generate 8 fury - 165 weapon damage - increase damage 8% 5 sec after using bash, stacks 3 times 

Punish provides most single target damage and also increase rend aoe damage, but you are dependent on rend for aoe damage. 

Bash (Onslaught)
generate 8 fury - 165% weapon damage - 2 strikes for 25% weapon damage
Bash provides more fury, but that's not really essential. It has less aoe damage, but a little bit more single target damage.

Cleave (Rupture)
generates 5 fury - 140% aoe weapon damage - enemies explode for 85% weapon damage 8y radius
This rune is very bad, because monsters die to slow to get enough damage from this rune.

Skill #2 (Right Mouse)
Rend (Blood Lust)
cost 20 fury - 700% aoe weapon damage over 5 sec - 9% life leech
This skill heals us and adds further aoe damage.

Skill #3 (1)
Overpower (Crushing Advance)
12 sec cooldown - 165% aoe weapon damage - redirect 35% incoming damage over 4 sec
We use this skill, because it's reduce 35% of our incoming damage for 4 sec. This helps us to survive nasty elite packs.

Skill #4 (2)
Wrath of the Berserker (Insanity)
This skill helps us to melt elite packs. For many elite packs we will need longer then 15 sec, but it's very helpful against elite monster with frozen ability.

Skill #5 (3)
Battle Rage (Marauder's Rage)
Increase our damage bonus to 30% and critical hit chance by 3%.

Skill #6 (4)
War Cry (Impunity)
Increase armor and resistance by 20%.

Passiv #1
Ruthless

Passiv #2
Weapons Master

Passiv #3
If you choose a offensive or defensive passiv depends on your gear. If you have very good damage and enough defensive, you can get Bloodthirst (gain 3% of all damage done as life). This skill will help you against elite packs with reflect damage.

* Defensive
Nerves of Steel or Tough as Nails for more armor.
Superstition redcues all non physical damage by 20%.

*Offensive
Brawler increases your damage by 30% as lons as there are 3 enemies within 8 yards.

I prefer a defensive skill.


Skill Calculator

Gear

Overview
I recommend 40.000 life, ~500 all resistance, 90.000 damage whitout warcry, battle rage and follower.
I wear a hellfire ring and socket a ruby into my helm slot for additional experience.

Weapon
2 Hand Weapon (Axe, Mace or Sword) preferable Skorn.

Skorn should have high dps (>1200), high strength (>320) and high critical hit damage (>185).
This skorn should not be this expensive.

If you have more money to spent, then we will look for more dps and the +1 random magic properties. The most useful and also most expensive are following properties.

*) Damage Dealt is converted to Life
*) additional Strength
*) Vitality


Radiant Star Emerald
If you can afford, buy a Radiant Star Emerald for your weapon. If you can't afford take a cheaper emerald.


Mighy Belt
There are many solutions, the cheapest method will be a Immortal King's Tribal Binding.
Your belt should have following stats.

Damage Dealt is converted to Life
Increases Cleave Damage by 13-14%.


Movement Speed
All fight's last longer, but for searching after the keywarden I would suggest 24% movement speed. It's not mandatory, but I would suggest 24%, because we don't have sprint. If you are only farming on high monster power and aren't interested in key runs, then you don't need it.

There are 4 pieces with 12% movement speed, which are a reasonable solution to this problem.

Boots
Bracers - Lacuni Prowlers
Chest - Tyrael's Might
Pants - Inna's Temperance

I think all depends on how much money you have. Items such as Immortal King's Eternal Reign (Chest),  Ice Climbers (Boots) with movement speed  or Lacuni Prowlers with critical hit chance are very expensive.

Following ranking by me, cheapest method first. I wear the cheapest method as long I can afford an Immortal King's Chest and Lacuin Prowlers with critical hit chance and strength. (method 3b)

1. Tyrael's Might + Boots
2. Tyrael's Might + Lacuni Prowlers with critical hit chance + Ice Climbers without movement speed
3a. IK Chest + Lacuni Prowlers with critical hit chance + Ice Climbers without movement speed + Inna's temerpance with strentgh
3b. IK Chest + Lacuni Prowlers with critical hit chance + Boots
4. IK Chest + Lacuni Prowerls with critical hit chance + Ice Climbers with movement speed


2 pieces Immortal King's Set
These are mandatory for very cheap 60 resistance to all elements.
For a starting gear set I can recommend Helm, Belt and / or Boots.

Ring
Stone of Jordan is very good for this build and for higher monsterpower.
Increased damage against elites should be very high. (25-30%)
Increased cleave damage should be 12%. (maximum)

The 2nd ring should be a hellfire ring if you are interested in leveling.


Shoulders
minimum requirements:
high strength (>200), vitality,

Legs
minimum requirements:
viality (>150), all resistance, 2 sockets,

Gloves
minimum requirements:
9% critical hit chance, strength or vitality, critical hit damage or all resistance,

Ring, Amulet
minimum requirements:
critical hit chance, strength and / or vitality,

Wrist
minimum requirements:
all resistance, strength and / or vitality,



In the second part I will post my stats, screenshots and farming routes to get 5 fast stacks before killing the key warden.

If you have any questions about skills and runes or gear, feel free to ask me in the comments.



Barbarian Guide Overview

The Big Barbarian Guide - Overview

I'm not a big fan of ww/sprint builds, so I tried many different skills to have fun and be efficient.

This is an overview post, where I will link to all my different mini barbarian guides.

WW / RLTW (Tornado) Basic Guide

Keyfarmer on high Monster Power - Part I
Keyfarmer on high Monster Power - Part II

Uberboss Stun Build

Uberboss Damage Build

Cleave Blow Up Barbarian - fast solo farm build for low Monster Power

Thunder Barbarian (HotA) - fast solo farm build for low Monster Power

How to create the hellfire ring!

Short update for the next patch 1.05


Hellfire Ring
Increases experience awarded per kill by 35%
+170-200 (Strength, Dex, Vit, Int)
4 Random Magic Properties
Chance to launch explosive ball of Hellfire on attack


This youtube video (not from me) shows us, how to get the hellfire ring!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xws54F-CJMQ

 

At first you have to farm all of the 3 Keys + the plan to build the Infernal Maschine:

•Key 1 - Found on Goat Mutant Key Warden in the Fields of Misery (Act 1)

•Key 2 - Found on Dune Dervish Key Warden in Dahlgur Oasis (Act 2)

•Key 3 - Found on Morlu Spellcaster Key Warden in Stonefort (Act 3)

•Infernal Machine Plan - Found on Terror Demon Key Warden in Silver Spire Lvl 1 (Act 4)

•The Key Wardens will always spawn in each Inferno game.

•Monster Level does not matter.

•The drops are not 100% guaranteed. ( At ML. 10 with 5 stacks of NV it is nearly 100%)

If you build your infernal maschine you have choose the last quest of act 1.
There it is possible to smash a door in the north near to the healer.
In that building you can open one of 3 portals to two of 6 bosses:

•The Realm of Discord - King Leoric and Mahgda.

•The Realm of Turmoil - Siege Breaker and Zoltun Kulle.

•The Realm of Chaos - Ghom and Raknoth.

•The machine only works to open a portal one time.

•A new machine will need to be crafted each time to open another portal.

•The portal remains open until the bosses are defeated or you leave game.

•The Vengeful Eye, Devil's Fang, and Writhing Spine, needed to craft the Hellfire Rings, are not guaranteed drops. (On ML.10 it is nearly 100%)

On ML. 10 these fights are really, really hard, espacially for some other classes.

- Ghom + Raka are pretty easy if you can dps both, so you are not reaching the enrage.

- Siege + Zoltun are more difficult because you easyly reach the enrage, dpsing just one.

- SK + Mahgda are the most challanging, because SK is nearly onehitting with his WW.

Keep in mind, that you can do all of this on a lower monsterlevel, but the dropprate of the required items is reduced a lot while reducing the monsterlevel!

Update

Update about me

Last two weeks I had not this much time to play diablo 3 as I want (soccer European championship and other activities), but I could level my barbarian to lev 59 and will hit lev 60 very soon. I also started my Hardcore Barbarian. She is lev 16 and at the start of act 2 normal. It's very funny to play hardcore, as long as you don't die and loose your gear :) I rarely farmed with my demon hunter, only a few runs in inferno. I also started to play a monk with exploring the hole story and lore.

I started to buy / sell in the American Auction House. I leveld a wizard to lev 9 on the American Server and started with low capital like 20k gold in the auction house. I have already 500k gold, but I'm only trading with the same items all the time. I'm making 10k - 15k per auction. I don't have the time and the incentiv to invest more time into the American Auction House, so I will continue with my activity as I'm already doing and will slowly increase my gold stock. I will make an own post about this activity and try to give you a periodical update.

As I started to play Hardcore, I also started to play with the Hardcore Auction House. The demand of items is a little bit different. Items with Vitality and defensive stats has much more value also in low level range. Prices are higher, specially  for gems (amethyst). If I have more time I will write about my Hardcore adventure.

In the normal gold auction House I could make some good deals with less effort of time, but in the RMAH I wasn't successfully. Yesterday I sold my first item, after posting some garbage for 1,25€ (0,25€ after fees). The European RMAH market seems very different as the American. It's much more difficult to sell anything on the RMAH in Europe. I think this has some reasons. First of all the credit card isn't this common in Europe as in America. The ratio between supply and demand is in Europe higher then in America, so everyone tries to undercut the other. One reason for this is again how you can pay in the RMAH and because of this there is less money in circulation, which can be reinvested. Maybe in some weeks in the RMAH in Europe there will be much more sales then now, but to a very low price.
To make money in Europe seems for me very difficult with the time I have.

With the Patch 1.0.3 I'm not sure now, what I will do next, because there are so many possibilities. I want a good mf gear which is good enough to farm act 1 and act 2 or act 3 inferno, but I don't know now if I should invest into the Barbarian or the Demon Hunter, both make fun and are so different. Also I don't know now how the play the Barbarian. More defensive with Sword and Board or a big 2 Hand Weapon.

Here you can find the Patch Notes 1.0.3

DH Gold Find Guide Part VI - My GF Demon Hunter

This post is about my female Demon Hunter "May" in her gold find gear. It's all dyed with Purity Dye (color = white).

261% gf from gear

Helm	17
Gem	23
Shoulder	25
Chest	18
Gloves	23
Bracers	20
Belt	17
Pants	14
Boots	16
Quiver	18
Amulet	40
Ring 1	16
Ring 2	14
Total	261
.
Follower	15
Ferret Companion	10
Total	286
.
Nephalem Valor Buff	75
Total	361

I try to upgrade my pieces to get 300% gf, but only if I find some cheap and good items and furthermore I need one more item with gold pickup radius.

In following pic I missed my belt.

DH Gold Find Guide - Introduction

Kripparrian killed Belial Inferno Hardcore

An amazing video from Kripparrian. He killed Belial solo on Inferno Hardcore with his Barbarian. Also the first part of the video, the fight against an elite pack (fire chains, health link, frozen, arcane enchanted) impressed me.
I hope I have some time soon to level my Barbarian. :-)

The fight against Belial were very controlled and he were never in danger to die. During the fight in phase 2 he also switched one skill. Ignore Pain was only used one or two times in phase 3 during the green meteor strike.


Frenzy - Sidearm
main attack

Furious Charge - Dreadnought
was only used one time in phase 2, but wasn't necessary. He switched this skill for Leap Iron Impact.

Leap - Iron Impact
great skill for this fight

Wrath of Berserke - Insanity
great damage boost

Ignore Pain - Iron Hide
additional oh shit button during green meteor strike

Revenge - Provocation
damage against summoned monsters and heal

War Cry - Impunity
armor and all resistance - must have for inferno

Tough as Nails

Nerves of Steel

Superstition


Kripparrian's Build with Leap

How to kill Belial Inferno with a Demon Hunter

DH Gold Find Guide Part V - Farming Area II

Dank Cellar - Sarkoth



By now this farming spot is very popular, but I want tell you again about it. As a ranged class you can do this runs with maximum gold find on Inferno difficult without stacking Nephalem Valor Buff before.




Get Checkpoint

1. Choose Quest - Act I Quest 2 - The Legacy of Cain - Explore Cellar - Inferno Difficulty
2. Take waypoint - The Old Ruins
3. Run to the west until you reach the Checkpoint

Start doing runs

1. Resume Game
2. Go to the West until the you reach the house
3. If the dank cellar is closed port back to town, leave and resume game.
4. If the dank cellar is opened, enter it and kill Sarkoth and his minions from range. Sarkoth won't attack you.
5. Pick up gold, magic/rare items and gems.
6. Port to town, leave and resume game.

3. Closed Dank Cellar

4. Opened Dank Cellar

next Part VI - My GF Demon Hunter
DH Gold Find Guide - Introduction

DH Gold Find Guide Part IV - Farming Area

One of the best farming areas for gold is act III, because of many big group of monsters, some very straight forward areas, some special caves with extra treasury goblins or resplendent chests.

We are doing our runs in Nightmare act III. There are 2 possibilities.
The long run (~1h 15min) starting quest: The Breaches Keep or the shorter one (~30min) starting quest: Siegebreaker. Both runs lasts until killing Azmodan.
In comparison of gold per hour they are very close, but the shorter seems to be better. I don't have enough time to make enough accurate tests.


A) starting quest: The Breaches Keep

I try to explore the hole map and killing as much monsters as possible. Sometimes you must travel a very long way back to explore all areas, but as a Demon Hunter with following skills we should not loose too much time. (Vault with Tumble, Preparation and Tactical Advantage)

If you explore all areas, then you will need about 1h 15 minutes.
With this gear (175% gf without Follower, Ferret Companion and Nephalem Valor Buff), 200.000 gold per hour is possible.

My current tracked record is 262.000 g / h with total 323% gf and 108% mf (224% gf and 33% mf on my own items). This run last 1 hour and 6 minutes.

I'm still working on improve my runs and many runs I don't track, because of this learning and improving process.
Theses gold values are from picked up gold + quest gold + gold from vendor for sold items.
Not including items, which are sold in the auction house. All items with no value for the auction house should be sold at the vendor.



B) starting quest: Siegebreaker

During your farm runs you come into the are Bridge of Korsik, there you can find the caverns of frost. Inside this cavern lev 2  there could be a named mob Chiltara. If you kill him, you will get the Gibbering Gemstone, which you need for crafting the Staff of Herding for the secret level.

next Part V - Farming Area II
DH Gold Find Guide - Introduction

My Inferno Belial Kill (DH Solo Guide)

Yes, I did it yesterday (30.5.2012). After 3 hours of wiping I killed Belial Inferno Solo  with my Demon Hunter and got several achievements. After the kill I killed him again with Macr0s, who already leveled a Monk to lev 60 and geared him for Inferno. We only need 5 more tries for him and it was much more easier then solo. For our team kill I used the same skills and items as I used for my solo kill.

This solo kill was an amazing adventure for me and through this practice I learned really much about my class and improves my playing skills. Of course I must commit that the Demon Hunter is the class which can do this in inferno with really cheap gear compared to other classes.

Inferno Belial Demon Hunter Solo Guide

I won't go into the deep in this guide. I explain how I did it and why. There are of course other and better way to do it and with other gear requirements, but as long the lead to the same success it doesn't matter.


Skills

Inferno Belial Build

Hungering Arrow - Devouring Arrow
hatred generator if needed

Elemental Arrow - Nether Tentacles
best damage skill for aoe and single target (can hit a single target more then once)

Smoke Screen - Lingering Fog
invulnerable

Preparation - Backup Plan
Discipline for Smoke Screen

Marked for Death - Mortal Enemy
increase damage and hatred generation in phase 2 and phase 3

Companion - Bat Companion
more damage and hatred generation

Tactical Advantage
movement speed increase for faster positioning

Archery
more damage

Sharpshooter
more burst damage,  very good with low crit% and high crit damage


Gear

I have very cheap gear compared to other classes and what is in the auction house available. My weapon is a magic crossbow with 955,9 dps and critical hit damage increased by 52%.

I concentrate on high dex, high crit damage and ias (increased attack speed) on my gear. (not for Belial but as a general Inferno gear.) If you want spend more money then also consider crit chance and buy pieces like Andariel's Visage with dex, ias and crit. chance. I have following stats.

My quiver has +5 max discipline. This isn't much and if you find a good quiver or chest with other good stats in the ah then buy it for this fight. More discipline helps a lot.


Follower - Templar

The follower is your backup in phase 1 and phase 2. During my tries I bought some cheap equipment for him, because I didn't spent any money for him before and he died to fast.

Two Rings and a amulet with high vitality, maybe a socket.
A shield with high vitality, armor and strength.
A weapon with high vitality, strength and cold damage. The damage itself isn't important.
A Relic with high vitality and strength.

My templar was doing his work with following stats, but sometimes died in the end of phase 2, but this isn't tragic, because you don't really need him in p3 and he will respawn very soon.

67.217 life
2468 Armor
984 Strength
1699 Vitality
Templar Skills


Fight against Belial

The fight against Belial has 3 phases. Don't skip the cutscene between the phases. You can skip it at the start of the fight. During the cutscene you regenerate hatred, discipline and stack crit chance with sharpshooter.

If you take any hit you will die. Don't be afraid from dieing and if your resurrection timer is 30 seconds, make a short break like 3-5 minutes after you live again, to reset it. Use Smoke Screen as often as you are in danger. I died to often, because I want to safe some discipline.


Phase 1

Your templar starts to attack the monsters, use Smoke Screen and stand behind him on the left or right side. Then clear the first group very fast with Elemental Arrow. Then spam Hungering Arrow as long as the next group spawns. Then kill the nearest monsters with Elemental Arrow and use Smoke Screen if they come to close to you or to many monsters spawn on your side. Don't stand on an spawn point and spam Elemental Arrow all the time. You must learn where the monsters can spawn and how to handle this situation. In the beginning it's better to use Smoke Screen as often as you are in danger, because it's important to reach phase 2 to learn it.


Phase 2

After a short cutscene Belial joins the fight. Don't skip this cutscene. First use Marked for Death on him. Belial will charge you and use his cleave attack, use immediatly your smoke screen and go on range on him. Shoot Elemental Arrow on him. If he charges you again run away from him to dodge his cleave attack or to be safety use smoke screeen. Try to do as most damage as possible with Elemental Arrow.

After like 3 charges he shoots 3 green projectile at you. If you stand behind the templar and he eat the projectile focus on damage, if he doesn't eat a projectile dodge them. If you have him already at 50-60% use smoke screen and focus on damage to get him to 20-25% to start phase 3. Shortly after he shoots green projectiles, he summon monsters, which must be killed. Use Smoke Screen to get on range to them and kill them. Sometimes you can ignore the summoned monsters and focus on Belial if he is low enough.


Phase 3

Again a short cuscene, which you shouldn't skip. Now Belial is a stationary boss. At the start of the fight use Marked for Death on him and shoot Elemental Arrow. Green circles indicate where he attacks. If it's close to you use smoke screen and get some range. Continue to dodge his attack if the green  circle is near you, but try to stay on the right side. If he starts using his breath go right edge of your screen so you don't get killed by his breath, if you aren't fast enough use Smoke Screen. Focus on damage by spamming Elemental Arrow. Depending on your damage and crit luck he will be very low before he uses his green meteor strike. Don't use Smoke Screen in this situation. IF you use it during the meteor strikes he will cast it randomly all over the place. Dodge it by moving and finish him off.


Achievements

I got following achievements with my Solo Inferno kill.

Why'd It Have to be Snakes
beat 10 Veiled Sentinels in 30 seconds while fighting Belial on Nightmare or higher

Good Eye
beat Belial without being hit by his projectile or meteor strike

Bad Breath
beat Belial on Inferno without being hit by his breath attack

Fist Missed
beat Belial without being hit by his fist attack

Out of the Shadows
finish the Belial achievements Why'd It Have to Be Snakes, Good Eye Fist Missed. Bad Breath.

The Lord of Lies (Inferno)


Have fun with Belial! Next step for me Inferno Act III.

My todo list

Just to inform you about my next steps in Diablo III.
Too less time to do all what I want :)

- finish my Demon Hunter Gold Find Guide
- improve my gf gear
- build up a mf gear for hell / inferno switchting
- doing gold find runs for more money and get a new recor
- killing belial inferno
- trying to farm act 3 inferno for items
- make more gold in the normal auction house
- farming ingredients to craft Staff of Herding, which is needed for reaching the secret level Wimsyshire
- leveling a barbarian
- leveling a monk with exploring the hole story and lore
- starting my first hardcore charakter
...

New Demon Hunter build for nightmare farming (lev60)

After some more hours of gold farming in nightmare this is my updated Demon Hunter build (lev 60) for my
DH gold find guide.

Hungering Arrow - Devouring Arrow
for bosses

Chakram - Shuriken Cloud
for objects and also useful against last remaining enemys in melee range

Multishot - Fire at Will
for every group of monsters

Vault - Tumble
low costs for faster traveling

Preperation - Back up Plan
more Discipline for more traveling

Companion - Ferret
10% gf


Passive

Tactical Advantage
Faster Traveling

Vengeance
Hatred and Diszipline regeneration

Archery
more damage


Skill Calculator

Old Post - DH Gold Find Guide Part I - Skills
Next Part II - Equipment
DH Gold Find Guide - Introduction

A good skill to break barrels

A good skill for the Demon Hunter to break objects like barrels or weak wooden doors is  
Chakram - Shuriken Cloud.

You must run very close along the barrels to break them. If you Vault it doesn't work. This is a very good skill for gold or magic find runs in weaker areas, because you are not dependent on all your skills slots.

DH Gold Find Guide Part III - Follower

We have the desicion between 3 Followers.
The main purpose for our follower is the gf.
You get 20% of your follower's mf and gf.

Templar
+ 4-5% more gf because he can wear a shield with gf
+ heal and steady hp regeneration
+ help in emergency or hatred regeneration

Scoundrel+ 3% crit

Enchantress+ 3% attack speed

I prefer the Templar, because of the gf and he is the best help in emergency situations.
3% crit or 3% attack speed isn't enough for me to take another follower for gf runs.

Follower Equipment
Amulet 18% gf
Ring1 12% gf
Ring2 12% gf
Shield 18% gf
=> 60% gf => 12% gf for you!

My templar has 71% gf, this makes 14% gf for me.
(Not really worth to buy expensive equipment for your follower!)

Weapon (One hand Axes, Daggers, Maces, Spears and Swords)
dps doesn't matter
give him any weapon you can find

Templar Relics
No gf or mf is available on this item slot, so equip anything you find on your way.

Follower Skills
Choose the skills you like. Under following link you find my preferences.

Follower Skill Calculator

Next Part IV - Farming Area
DH Gold Find Guide - Introduction

DH Gold Find Guide Part II - Equipment

We search for a very cheap gf gear for nightmare, hell is another topic.
For nightmare it's very easy, only gf matters on the items.

In higher difficulty, damage and life is more important to kill as fast as possible and not to die.
I must do myself some more testing in hell to have more detailed data.

stats:
gold find (gf) values are minimum requirements, which can be bought very cheap in the ah
increase gold and health globe pick up radius some more yards are useful, even if we have our ferrets

Weapon
The most important item in our gf gear is the item without gf, our weapon.
only dps matter
bow or crossbow prefered, due to higher burst damage
for 30.000 gold you will get a bow with 600 - 700 dps (Server Europe, 24.5.2012)

Helm
10% gf
1 Socket
(difficult to find the right item in the ah, because also helms without gf and an emerald will show up)
We put an Flawless Square Emerald into the helm. This gives us 19% gf.
You must pay ~70.000 for a Perfect Square Emerald, which is only 2% more gf then the Flawless Square Emerald.

Boots
12% gf
Boots should also have movement speed. 12% preferred
(If you search in the ah don't put in a value for movement speed, it don't work or I'm doing it wrong.)

Helm	10%
Shoulder	13%
Chest	14%
Gloves	12%
Belt	13%
Wrists	12%
Pants	14%
Boots	12%
Amulet	18%
Ring1	12%
Ring2	12%
Quiver	14%
Flawless Square Emerald	19%
total	175%

I have 216% gf now from my gear, my next investment will be a better helm and better gem.


How does gf work?
If you would collect 50.000 gold with 0% gf,
you would collect 100.000 gold with 100% gf or
137.500 gold with 175% gf.

Formula
base gold amount x (1 + gf / 100)

Example
50.000 x (1 + 100 / 100) =
50.000 x (1+ 1) =
50.000 x 2 = 100.00


How much is an increase of 1% gf worth if I have already 175% gf?
It depends how often and how long you farm.
The better question is how long must I farm to get an investmen for 1% more gf back?

This question is difficult to answer, because I don't have exact data.
We need the base gold amount for 1 hour farming with 0% gf, (also no nephalem valor buff).
I didn't have the time to test this, but my mathematical calculation leads to 50.000 - 70.000 base gold amount for 1 hour farming in nightmare. The highter the base gold amount, the better for us.

Example I
base gold amount: 50.000
investment 100.000
+ 1% gf

=> + 500 g / hour
=> 200 hours farming to get investment back

Example II (Radiant Square Emerald)
base gold amount: 50.000
investment 190.000 (if you craft it yourself)
+ 4% gf

=> + 2.000 g / hour
=> 95 hours farming to get investment back

Example III (realistic for starters)
base gold amount 50.000
investment 50.000
+ 5 gf

=>+ 2.500 g / hour
=> 20 hours farming to get investment back



Next Part III - Follower
DH Gold Find Guide - Introduction

Smokescreen nerfed

Bad news for demon hunters, who farm elite packs solo inferno with max dexterity gear.

Smokecreen (changes in red)
Vanish behind a wall of smoke, becoming momentarily invisible for (2) 1 seconds.
Rune Lingering Fog
Increase the duration of the effect to (3) 2 seconds.
Cooldown 3 seconds.

Edit: Further it seems, that monsters are following you if you are invisible, but don't attack.

This timeframe of 1 seconds will be enough for fast moving monsters to kill the Demon Hunter. We will see, if the Demon Hunter can find a work around for this problem or need better gear to farm elite packs in inferno solo.

This means for me, if I don't play in group I go back to gold farming.

DH Gold Find Guide Part I - Skills

Updated build.

In our skill selection we focus on aoe damage, mobility and hatred generation.
This following skill selection is for an easy area like nightmare act 3, 4 or hell act 1, 2.
For later difficulties like hell act 3,4 we need better gear and more damage and fight controling skills.

1 Hungering Arrow 

Only for hatred regeneration

If we only use Multishot as hatred spender, then we choose Puncturing Arrow (pierce 50%) for most single target damage against bosses.
Otherwise you should take Shatter Shot (split into 3 arrows) or Spray of Teeth (crit aoe explode)

2 Multishot

Our main skill. I use it against every group, also against elite packs.

Rune choice depends on your damage. If you can oneshot most groups, then take Fire at Will (reduce cost) otherwise Full Broadside (increase damage). A further option is to take Suppression Fire (hit grants 1 discipline), but then you can't use a second hatred spender and use Preparation instead.

3 Impale or Preparation

Now we have an option between an strong single target hatred spender or more hatred generation.

Impale with Impact (Stun) is very useful against elite packs or bosses if you are too weak like in hell act 3 or 4.  If you farm in nightmare Impale with Grievous Wounds (100% crit damage) is the better choice.

If you won't use a second hatred spender, because Multishot for normal monsters and elite packs and Hungering Arrow against bosses is enough you should take Preparation with Punishment (restore all hatred for 25 discipline).

4 Vault

Vault is very important to travel fast and on higher difficulty to kite. Tumble for lower costs or Rattling Roll (knockback and stun) as defensive ability.

5 Caltrops

In nightmare you don't need Caltrops for slowing and kiting, but with the rune Bait the Trap (10% crit) it's a very good damage increase against bosses. In hell you need Caltrops for kiting with Hooked Spines (80% movement speed) or Torturous Ground (immobilized 2 sec).

6 Companion

Last but not least our Ferret Companion (10% gf). Free and easy gf. Must have.


Passive Skills

For Nightmare I suggest following Passive Skills.
Tactical Advantage  faster traveling
Vengeance Hatred and Discipline regeneration
Archery more damage

In Hell I would change Vengeance against Sharpshooter for more burst damage. Tactical Advantage is important for kiting now and Archery increases damage.

Skill Calculator - Nightmare build with Impale
Skill Calculator - Nightmare build with Preparation
Skill Calculator - Hell build


Next Part II - Equipment
DH Gold Find Guide - Introduction

DH Gold Find Guide - Introduction

This Gold Find (gf) Guide is concerned with solo farming  in lower level areas like nightmare act 3 or easy spots in hell or inferno with a lev 60 Demon Hunter. The areas must be tested intensely to give a good comparison.

The goal is to get a very constant gold per hour ratio with gold find. This can be done as soon as you reach lev 60 with a very cheap item set. Sure you can also farm in hell, but for a fast and safe run you need much better items. If killing many monsters easily and farming for a longer period of time are fun for you, gold find runs are the right activity for you. I like it.

The strategy is to wear as much gold find as possible, find very fast 5 elite packs to stack the Nephalem Valor Buff to 75% gf and mf, and then kill many monsters for gold, elite packs and bosses for rare or better items. These items are not as valuable if you would do the same in hell or inferno, but in these areas you can wear more and cheaper gold find gear. Sometimes you will also find worthwile items for the auction house. All other items can be sold or salvaged.

One exception is an easy spot in inferno, there you don't stack any nephalem valor buff before. You will find it under part V of my guide.

In the following days I'm writing more parts of the guide.

DH Gold Find Guide Part I - Skills
DH Gold Find Guide Part I - Skills updated 
DH Gold Find Guide Part II - Equipment
DH Gold Find Guide Part III - Follower
DH Gold Find Guide Part IV - Farming Area
DH Gold Find Guide Part V - Farming Area II
DH Gold Find Guide Part VI - My GF Demon Hunter

Nephalem Valor Buff

With lev 60 after defeating a champions group or a rare monster you get the Nephalem Valor Buff.

The buff increase your magic find and gold find for 15%.
The buff stacks 5 times, this means 75% magic find and 75% gold find.
The buff lasts 30 minutes.
The duration resets to 30 minutes with each kill of an elite pack.
The buff ends if you change skills.
You get the buff in all difficulties, also normal and nightmare.
With this buff you get additional item drops if you kill a boss like skeleton king. (This is not 100% confirmed now!) 

There are many possibilities with this buff, which must be discovered now.

Lev 60

Finally I reached lev 60 with my Demon Hunter today (Saturday, 19.5.2012, 11:17).
I was on the last quest in act 3 hell.

Now the game start again. There are so many things what I want to do, but I don't have this much time.
Ingame I'm working on act4 hell and a gold farming strategy.

In the next days I will write a short summary about the last part (which is missing) of my leveling adventure with my leveling group.

Nightmare Act I - My first legendary drop

Ernesto and Macr0 started with lev 31 and I were lev 30.

I found my first legendary item. Fjord Cutter

Through the first part of Act I we rushed very fast, but then we were too lazy and died to often.

My Demon Hunter looks like this and have a very good weapon.

I use following skills.

For Act I Nightmare we needed 3 hours.

After Act I we decided to do a longer break, because of problems with the login and opening a new game.

Normal

With 1 hour delay we started our adventure.

Already in act 1 we wiped at a big tree with a rare.

After 2 hours and 50 minutes we killed the last post in act 1. (lev 14)

Boss Act 1

2nd act - 3 hours and 50 minutes (we had some problems at the end boss) (lev 23)

3rd act -  3 hours 15 minutes (lev 29 / 30)

4th act - 1 hour 30 minutes (I had some Internet problems, delay for 10 minutes) (lev 30 / 31)

I played 11 Hours 24 Minutes and my Demon Hunter is lev 30 now.



Because of my internet problems I don't have more time to write a longer coverage. Sorry.

Live Coverage - Main Post

This is the main post of the live coverage from my leveling group EMT.
Here you will find all links to all coverage articels.

Normal

Nightmare Act I

Tips for leveling adventure

Some useful help for tonights leveling adventure.

Charakter progression

Following sites can help you during your level process. They offers a very quick overview which skills, runes or passives are activated on which level.

Barbarian progression
Demon Hunter progression
Monk progression
Witch Doctor progression
Wizard progression

I will have opened the dh site on my notebook right to me.

Overview weapons

Keybindings

pdf for printing

Follower

Followers are only in solo play available.
Follower basics

Making Gold

Diablo 3 Gold Secrets Guide
Free Gold Guide Blog

Analysis Demon Hunter skills in a leveling group

Today's topic contains Demon Hunter skills and considerations for leveling in a group with one or more melees. I have the luxury, that I have a Barbarian and a Monk in my leveling team.

If you play together with a Barbarian or/and Monk most time you must not kite the enemies, because they are attacking the melee. This means for us we don't need a slow (entangling shot or caltrops) for the normal leveling process. (If there is any big situation (event) with to much monsters, we can swap our skill for this situation, if necessary.)

The Demon Hunter should stand in the back and should focus on aoe damage.

Hatred Generator (Left Mouse)
We have only tree options Hungering Arrow, Bola Shot or Grenades.

Hungering Arrow is stronger against few and strong monsters (like bosses, champion, rares or small group of monsters)

Bola Shot is stronger for big clustered group of monsters.
The Barbarian have a skill Ground Stomp with Rune Wrenching Smash (lev 18), which pulls all monster in 24y range to him and stun them for 4 seconds. These 2 skills could be a good combination.

Grenades is useful for a faster hatred regeneration with Rune Tinkerer. In comparison to the 2 other options I don't like it.

Conclusion for myself: Using Hungering Arrow until lev 14, then Bola Shot with Rune Volatile Explosives (increase explosion radius to 14y).
If this won't work as I intended, then Hungering Arrow is another good option for me.
Later with lev 37 I will give  Bola Shot with Rune Acid Strike a chance.
The bola no longer explode, but therefore you shoot 3 bola with 130% weapon damage.


Hatred Spender (Right Mouse)
Rapid Fire with Withering Fire is a very good Hatred Spender, because you can stand still in the back and unload all your hatred. It's strong against single target and also against smaller groups.

It's the best option for me, because there are good synergies with other skills possible.
Like Preparation with rune Punishment (for 25 discipline you restore all hatred) and passive Vengeance (increase max hatred by 25, and you gain 20 hatred and 2 discipline whenever you are healed by a health globe)

I'm dreaming from following situation:
My team partners a monk and a barbarian fighting in the front. I'm standing in the back with full hatred. Unload all hatred with Rapid Fire. Use Preparation. Unload hatred with Rapid Fire again.
In the meanwhile my team picked up some health globes. I unload the rest of my hatred and use my hatred generator until I have full hatred or enough discipline to use Preparation again. If I have enough discipline I use all my hatred with Rapid Fire and then use Preparation.


Hatred Spender #2 (1)
My 2nd hatred spender should be more aoe oriented, there are 3 options for me:
Fan of Knives with Rune Hail of Knives (20y radius). The big disadvantage is the cooldown of 10 seconds and therefore only useful with a slow weapon like a crossbow.
Cluster Arrow  - The description seems strong, but it's unclear how much aoe damage there is possible. Furthermore there is no strong rune until lev49.
Multishot - This skill seems to be the efficients attack for bigger groups.


Group Supporting Skill (2)
Marked of Death - The marked enemy will take 12% additional damage.
Rune Contagion or Valley of Death are good for big groups.
Marked of Death is the only Skill for group supporting before lev52.
If you don't have this skill all the time, then switch this skill in before every boss.


2 Skills left (3 and 4)
Vault for faster traveling and an escape possibility in dangerous situations.
Preparation as I mentioned above with rune Punishment.
Rain of Vengeance cost nothing and has a 30 seconds cooldown. It's a good fight opener but only useful with a with a slow weapon like a crossbow.
Companion - rune Boar Companion (lev41) or Wolf Companion (lev59) for damage or rune Bat Companion (lev 29) for additional hatred generation.
Sentry is later a good group supporting skill with rune Aid Station (lev52) heals for 1% max life per second or rune Guardian Turret (lev60) reduce damage taken by 15%.

Conclusion:
Preparation rune Punishment is a must have for me.
For the last skill I will test around, what fits best.


Passive
Vengeance (lev 13) - In Combination with Prepariation or with a Barbarian with the passive Bound of Flesh for more health globes.
Steady Aim (lev16) - With a melee in front of you, there shouldn't be often monsters very close to you.
Cull the Weak (lev20) - If you have a team partner who slows all mobs, like a Monk with Crippling Wave.
Archery (lev30) - Very good damage passive.

Big Problem we can only take 3 passive. I will decide between Vengeance and Steady Aim.
In comparison Steady Aim increase damage by 20% and Cull the Weak increase damage by 15%, but I prefer the freedom to move close to monsters without loosing a damage buff.


Demon Hunter lev 30

Bola Shot - Volatile Explosives
Rapid Fire - Withering Fire
Multishot - Fire at Will
Marked for Death - Contagion
Vault - Action Shot
Preparation - Punishment

Vengeance
Cull the Weak
Archery

Skill Calculator

Demon Hunter - Resource System (Hatred and Discipline)

Interview with Macr0s

My second interview partner is Macr0s. He plays the barbarian in my leveling team EMT.



Tell us something about yourself and your gaming experience?Hi my name is Thomas aka Macr0s.
I'm a professional Online Pokerplayer and Coach.
Macr0s Poker blog

My gaming experience is essentially limit to Diablo 2, after Diablo 2 i basicly quit gaming. But in Diablo 2 i was an avid gamer, i lived and breathed D2 for almost 3 years. From the beginning of D2 i was into PVP and as a result of that i founded the biggest German PVP Community and League AoW-PvP with a bunch of friends.

You decided to level in group for the first two days with less sleep. You don't even know the other two players. Why do you prefer this group over soloplay?
The reasons are basicly 5-fold.
1. It's a motivational factor, it's easier to not get distracted when you're needed in a group.
2. I presume its a lot more fun in a group.
3. My estimate is, in a group of good gamers it's a lot faster to level.
4. Its safer in a group and as a result of that we gain more gold than soloplayers.
5. D3 was designed as a multiplayer game.

Why you choose the Barbarian as your first class?
I enjoy being in the middle of the action. And i always had an affinity for the Barbarian, my favorite D2 PvP Chars was my Double Throw Allround Barb. One of the few Barbs able to kill basicly every other class.

Which skill you like most on the Barbarian?
If you hold a gun to my head and made me choose i would say Call of the Ancients. I was always a fan of the 3 Ancients.

Your group consider a Monk, a Demon Hunter and your Barbarian.
Which skills/runes/passive you will use to support the group?
The Barbarian is somewhat of a egoistical bastard, the only passive that benefits anyone in a group environment is Pound of Flesh for an increased Health Globe Rate. From a skill standpoint, crowd control in form of slow, if slow is not enough there are some more options like pull and stun. And obviously the BO substitute in D3 Invigorate plus if necessary one of the dam reducers.

Whats your estimation.
How many hours do your group need for normal?
Which level can you reach during your 39 hours leveling process?
At which point will your group wipe the first time?
I would guesstimate 5 hours for normal.
Level 55-60 over the 39 hours.
I hope never at least the whole group, the first rip from one of us i would guess will be around act 3 nm.

After your first leveling adventure, when will you finish to lev 60,
if you don't reach lev 60 during 39 hours?
I guess Sunday. The days after our long session are full with very important poker tournaments.

What are you next plans in diablo 3 after lev 60?
Making lots of money on the auction house and farming inferno.
Your group planned 5x 1 hour breaks for sleep and eating.

You have experience with powernaps. Can you tell us something about it?
What are the advantages? Isn't there a risk you don't wake up again?
Good question, i tried the uperman sleep schedule for a month. As long as you don't have any social engagement that interfere with your schedule ist quite easy to maintain. But if you miss out on one of your naps you're going to suffer hugely. Regarding problems to wake up, within the 30mins you don't get into the deep sleep phase so you will definatly wake up when your alarm rings. If you get up when you turned off the alarm, that's another question.

You want tell us more?
No, you covered everything interesting and noteworthy.

Interview with Ernesto

My first interview partner is Ernesto. He plays the monk in my leveling team EMT.

Tell us something about yourself and your gaming experience?
Hi. I'm 27, live in Salzburg, Austria and work as a mathematician for the local government. Good payment, safe job, flexible working hours, what you want more as a gamer? The first game series I played extensively were Age of Empires and Diablo. My online gaming career started with WoW, playing from 2005 until last year. And that's it. I didn't play many different games. But these games I played many, many hours.
I'll play the monk in our group.

You decided to level in group for the first two days with less sleep.
You don't even know the other two players. Why do you prefer this group over soloplay?
I don't prefer group play over solo play. Actually, I'm more the solo player. But I like the challenge. And group play is definitely much more challanging than playing solo. And I know everthing about the other two players that I need to know. Many friends of mine who will play Diablo 3 have other goals than me... or no goals. But I know that we are three players with the same goals. And that rises the excitement massively.

What are the advantages of groupplay over soloplay?
Let's start with the great disadvantages: dependence and the need for communication. I don't like to be dependent to other players when it's not needed (unlike in WoW). But we arranged that. We set us goals, we clarified everything that can be clarified in advance.
Now to the advantages. Every class was made to finish the content solo. But I think, the strength of each class can be shown in group play. Like in our group. The barb is of course the punching bag, while the dh blows waves of aoe damage over the legions of the burning hells. I'll take the supporting part. Slowing, healing, striking. And we can motivate each other. Get more items we can share to push each other.

You decided to play a Monk. What do you like?
I always prefered melee combat in these type of games. Not the brutal version, but rather supported by magical and healing skills. I was a shaman in WoW from the beginning to the end. So I fell in love with the monk as soon as I heard of this class. I like the way he fights, that he tries to avoid damage rather than just eat it.

Your group consider a Barbarian, a Demon Hunter and your Monk.
Which skills/runes/passive you will use to support the group?
 To support the group as mentioned, I'll use
- Crippling wave - Concussion as Spirit Gen - slowing enemies and reducing their damage
- Breath of Heaven - Circle of Life, the strongest heal skill ingame
- Inner Sanctuary - Safe Haven, a protecting and healing circle, for the exciting moments
- Mantra of Conviction - Overawe, for more BUMMMM.
- Passives: Resolve - to reduce enemies damage
The use of other skills depends on the content and the difficulty.

Whats your estimation.
How many hours do your group need for normal?
Which level can you reach during your 39 hours leveling process?
At which point will your group wipe the first time?
Puh, very hard to say. When official announcement told 15-20 hours with moderate speed for Normal, than I expect maybe around 12-14 hours for finishing Normal. On that assumption, I think we'll reach lvl 45-50.
To be honest, I think our first wipe will be very early, maybe even on Skeleton King, if they tuned him after Beta. Simply because in the first levels, we're not used to each other's style of game play.

After your first leveling adventure, when will you finish to lev 60, if you don't reach lev 60?
As soon as possible. I hope, before Bayern Munich wins the Champions League final. 

What are you next plans in diablo 3 after Monk lev 60?
Have success playing the auction houses. And Inferno, of course.
My second char will be a witch doctor, as I was thrilled by the play style.

You want tell us more?
Although my goals are leveling as fast as possible and therefore getting an advantage in making some gold and money, my primary goal is having fun. That's why a play at least. And without having fun, all other goals will become worthless. That should be everybody's main focus.
Cheers, Ernesto.