How to powerlevel your own heroes without boosting from others?

With this method of power leveling you don't need someone who must waist their time to boost you, but you will need someone other. The big difference for the other player is, he will get rewarded for helping you with gold and xp. If you read already my blog, you know which run we will do.

Preparation:

1. You need a lev 70 hero, who can do T6 Bounty Act 4 (Clear the Hell Rift)
As I recommend in the guide a ranged hero is preferred and it is also doable with medicore gear.

2. level your hero to lev 5+.

3. Find someone who needs gold or / and xp. This player must not be geared very well.

4. Provide the player all information about Hell Rift Farming T6  or sent him this link to the guide.



Your Powerleveling starts now:

1. You open a T6 adventure game with your lev 70 hero and look for the act 4 bounty "Clear the Hell Rift".

2. If you find a game kill all except 1-5 monsters.

3. Invite the other player and wait until he ported to you.

4. You port to town, leave the game, switch your hero to your leveling hero and join the resuming game. The other player must wait.

5.  After you joined the game and ported to the other player, he can kill all remaining monsters and finish the bounty.

(If your partner is geared enough, he can try the cursed chest and hope for the white monsters.)

6. Repeat until lev 70

Current Play Time: 1 Hour 9 Minutes, but this char was also used for storing items.

Your hero will get a high amount of experience per run and level very fast.
At low level you will get 4 level per run, above 64 you only get 1 level per run.

I leveled my crusader, witch doctor and 2nd monk with this method, but I forgot to count the number of runs. I did some math and it will be less then 25 runs to level from lev 5 to lev 70.

During the time you search and prepare a game, I recommend that you partner don't waste his time. The best thing he can do is farming legendary crafting materials.

Following Guides for farming legendary crafting materials provide this blog:
Shard of Entsteig Plate (Aughild's Authority Set)
Born Key (Born's Command Set)

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.

Leveling team EMT

With the help of the diablo3goldsecrets forum I could find two other german speaking players, who were interested to level together. We formed a leveling group for the first two realease days.

I call our group EMT. Ernesto, Macr0s, Tazeon

Team EMT

Macr0s is playing a Barbarian, Ernesto is playing a Monk and I'm playing a Demon Hunter.

We are all mature and are interested to level fast, straight forward and skipping lore and videos. It seemed that I found two great players, which are informed about d3 gameplay and their class and have the same goal and same enthusiasm for diablo 3 as myself. Our goal is to level fast and efficient.

We will play together from Tuesday 15. Mai 00:00 until Wednesday 16. Mai 20:00.
These are 44 hours and we have 5 x 1 hour breaks for powernaps and eating, furthermore we will make short breaks for leaving the computer and longer town breaks for individual concern like auction house, leveling artisans or crafting.

Interviews with my team mates are coming before release and I will make a short live coverage about our progress.

Interview with Ernesto
Interview with Macr0
Coverage