<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>Well the stress beta has ended. The highest level character is level 38 so if you factor in the rest bonus (obviously the level 38 guy didn't get much rest bonus, if any), hitting level 38 in 1 month doesn't seem out of question, so 2 month at maxed out seems pretty reasonable for an 'average' schedule. Random issues/thoughts/etc:
Elite mobs - For those who haven't played far enough to see them, there are elite mobs that will say level 16+. That this means is add 10 to the level of the mob and you get a rough idea of how hard it is, and the only reason it's 16+ instead of 26 is so that it doesn't kill you in one hit due to the high level mob versus low level player bonus. There is absolutely no point to fight elite mobs unless you need it for a quest. They hit twice as hard as mobs of the same level, have 4 times the HP, and give about twice as much XP. In the time it takes you to kill an elite mob you can kill 4 non-elites and take way less damage as well (especially for classes that can take a significant portion of a mob's health before meleeing). Elites have slightly better loot drop for their level, but for the effort involved you could just go kill something 5 levels higher that's not an elite, and its junk drop would be comparable to the normal drop of an elite. Avoid elites like the plague. If a group says they need more for elites be sure to never join them because most likely your group will die a horrible death, and at best you get sub-par XP (unless you need those elites for a quest, of course, then by all means join).
Instanced dungeons - For those who never got anywhere far in a MMORPG this is like raiding game lite. Instanced dungeon pretty much only have elite mobs, which again makes them completely worthless so far as any kind of character progression is needed unless you've a quest there. Plus, they are huge. If you can't put aside about 5 hours from start to finish don't ever step foot in one because you'll only have a lot of wasted time to show for your effort. Never go into an instanced dungeon if you're lower level than the last boss you have to kill because it will kill you in one hit unless you're a tank (high level bonus + elite bonus). For example take the first alliance instanced dungeon, Deadmines. The boss is level 22 so you shouldn't go in anything less than level 22. Since the lowest level mob in Deadmines is level 18, it'd probably be better to go in as a level 24 (or 25, if level 18s give xp to a level 25). To be fair, I actually enjoyed being in one of those dungeons, but after trying Deadmines a few times you're simply not getting anywhere without the necessary levels. Which brings me to my next point.
Levels - This game is extremely level based. The high level mob versus low level PC bonus is huge, and especially against elites this translates to one hit kills for the PC if fighting a high level. Even spell resist (yours and theirs) seems to be tied largely to levels. If you want to become powerful, the best thing to do is just grind XP (or grind quests, actually) and keep on kill lower level stuff nonstop. While some modicum of skill will get you pretty far versus normal stuff, there is no amount of skill that can make up for the disadvantage of fighting a high level elite. Here's my rough estimation on what you can take on as a player, of course it varies depending on the class but as far as I can tell the soloability of classes do not vary too much (i.e. any class X can kill a mob of level Y, though some classes do it way more efficiently):
Hardest thing one person can defeat:
Versus elite - 3-4 levels lower than you
Versus normal - 3-4 levels higher than you
Versus multiple - 2-3 mobs 3-4 levels lower than you (this varies a lot on the classes since some classes have better crowd control abilities).
Add 3 levels if you've two people (assuming same level). Adding more players doesn't help too much after this point (though obviously makes the killing process a lot faster) because it really doesn't make any sense to fight anything harder than what 2 can people can defeat, and if the mobs get any higher level you've to start worrying about instant kills due to the level bonus.
The ideal stuff to kill are normal mobs 2-3 levels lower than you, preferably Wizard or Warlock types, but any caster will do.
Hunters are by far the hardest enemy type to defeat. I think their throw is bugged, because I never seen throw miss unless you get a special skill off (dodge/parry) or mitigated. They don't have any noticeable weaker melee ability than a Warrior type but throw makes it impossible to run away from them, and much harder handle as a caster.
Casters, on the other hand, are ridiculously easy. With the current bugged damage on casters (they melee about twice as much as normal warrior type mobs of the same level) you pretty much want a caster to cast anyway and not even bother interrupting their spells and even then it's too easy because they have about half the HPs of a warrior mob. High DPS classes like rogues and mages can kill caster NPC before they're done casting their first spell if they get a critical.
Some mobs, especially elites, will exhibit AI more complicated than a rock, so like a caster will actually try to root you and run away. Obviously people feed back that chasing Fallens was the defining experince of Diablo 2. But anyway, it's fine on casters because they're way too easy as it is so they should have some factor that makes it slightly annoying before they die in 5 seconds after their root runs out. But, Hunter types have absolutely no business to be running away and then shooting because they're every bit as hard as a Warrior at melee range, and when they run they get their super powered throw attacks off as well, plus forcing players to react. Unless needed for a quest, you should never fight any Hunter type enemy. They're simply the hardest type of enemy to defeat with absolutely nothing to show for the effort.</div>
Elite mobs - For those who haven't played far enough to see them, there are elite mobs that will say level 16+. That this means is add 10 to the level of the mob and you get a rough idea of how hard it is, and the only reason it's 16+ instead of 26 is so that it doesn't kill you in one hit due to the high level mob versus low level player bonus. There is absolutely no point to fight elite mobs unless you need it for a quest. They hit twice as hard as mobs of the same level, have 4 times the HP, and give about twice as much XP. In the time it takes you to kill an elite mob you can kill 4 non-elites and take way less damage as well (especially for classes that can take a significant portion of a mob's health before meleeing). Elites have slightly better loot drop for their level, but for the effort involved you could just go kill something 5 levels higher that's not an elite, and its junk drop would be comparable to the normal drop of an elite. Avoid elites like the plague. If a group says they need more for elites be sure to never join them because most likely your group will die a horrible death, and at best you get sub-par XP (unless you need those elites for a quest, of course, then by all means join).
Instanced dungeons - For those who never got anywhere far in a MMORPG this is like raiding game lite. Instanced dungeon pretty much only have elite mobs, which again makes them completely worthless so far as any kind of character progression is needed unless you've a quest there. Plus, they are huge. If you can't put aside about 5 hours from start to finish don't ever step foot in one because you'll only have a lot of wasted time to show for your effort. Never go into an instanced dungeon if you're lower level than the last boss you have to kill because it will kill you in one hit unless you're a tank (high level bonus + elite bonus). For example take the first alliance instanced dungeon, Deadmines. The boss is level 22 so you shouldn't go in anything less than level 22. Since the lowest level mob in Deadmines is level 18, it'd probably be better to go in as a level 24 (or 25, if level 18s give xp to a level 25). To be fair, I actually enjoyed being in one of those dungeons, but after trying Deadmines a few times you're simply not getting anywhere without the necessary levels. Which brings me to my next point.
Levels - This game is extremely level based. The high level mob versus low level PC bonus is huge, and especially against elites this translates to one hit kills for the PC if fighting a high level. Even spell resist (yours and theirs) seems to be tied largely to levels. If you want to become powerful, the best thing to do is just grind XP (or grind quests, actually) and keep on kill lower level stuff nonstop. While some modicum of skill will get you pretty far versus normal stuff, there is no amount of skill that can make up for the disadvantage of fighting a high level elite. Here's my rough estimation on what you can take on as a player, of course it varies depending on the class but as far as I can tell the soloability of classes do not vary too much (i.e. any class X can kill a mob of level Y, though some classes do it way more efficiently):
Hardest thing one person can defeat:
Versus elite - 3-4 levels lower than you
Versus normal - 3-4 levels higher than you
Versus multiple - 2-3 mobs 3-4 levels lower than you (this varies a lot on the classes since some classes have better crowd control abilities).
Add 3 levels if you've two people (assuming same level). Adding more players doesn't help too much after this point (though obviously makes the killing process a lot faster) because it really doesn't make any sense to fight anything harder than what 2 can people can defeat, and if the mobs get any higher level you've to start worrying about instant kills due to the level bonus.
The ideal stuff to kill are normal mobs 2-3 levels lower than you, preferably Wizard or Warlock types, but any caster will do.
Hunters are by far the hardest enemy type to defeat. I think their throw is bugged, because I never seen throw miss unless you get a special skill off (dodge/parry) or mitigated. They don't have any noticeable weaker melee ability than a Warrior type but throw makes it impossible to run away from them, and much harder handle as a caster.
Casters, on the other hand, are ridiculously easy. With the current bugged damage on casters (they melee about twice as much as normal warrior type mobs of the same level) you pretty much want a caster to cast anyway and not even bother interrupting their spells and even then it's too easy because they have about half the HPs of a warrior mob. High DPS classes like rogues and mages can kill caster NPC before they're done casting their first spell if they get a critical.
Some mobs, especially elites, will exhibit AI more complicated than a rock, so like a caster will actually try to root you and run away. Obviously people feed back that chasing Fallens was the defining experince of Diablo 2. But anyway, it's fine on casters because they're way too easy as it is so they should have some factor that makes it slightly annoying before they die in 5 seconds after their root runs out. But, Hunter types have absolutely no business to be running away and then shooting because they're every bit as hard as a Warrior at melee range, and when they run they get their super powered throw attacks off as well, plus forcing players to react. Unless needed for a quest, you should never fight any Hunter type enemy. They're simply the hardest type of enemy to defeat with absolutely nothing to show for the effort.</div>
