6

At the absolute latest, you begin putting paragon points into Main Stat and/or Vit at Paragon 401, and they have no cap. How do you determine what the optimal distribution of MS vs Vit is for solo and casual group play at arbitrarily high Paragon levels?

(I am not asking for specific build or character advice, nor asking for recommendations for a tool that will calculate it for me. I'm asking for insight into the underlying math that will inform that decision patch after patch.)

Improve this question
5
  • I believe this only happens at level 800, not 400. 50 per stat, four stats per section.
    – Frank
    Oct 3, 2015 at 1:28
  • 2
    @Frank at 801 you get nothing but main stat or vit. I meant that at 401 you have either unspent points, or at least 1 point in mains stat or vit, because as many as 100 go into move speed or max resource. It's likely that by 400 you will have more than a few points in Main stat
    – Dallium
    Oct 3, 2015 at 1:32
  • It's usually best to just put everything in primary stat and roll vit on your gear, unless you absolutely must have more vit, although if you are in a situation like that, you probably have other issues with gear or difficulty you are playing.
    – Elise
    Oct 3, 2015 at 1:49
  • @Chippies Does this change on hardcore?
    – Troyen
    Oct 3, 2015 at 5:12
  • @Troyen Even on hardcore, the small amount of vit you get from paragons won't make you survive an extra hit, so yes, you're better off getting more damage (and a bit of toughness, as str/dex give armor and int gives resistances). You can put the points in vit as a temporary measure if your gear is lacking vit and you have to use this gear, but it's going to be sub-optimal.
    – Elise
    Oct 3, 2015 at 13:56

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
6

A Rule of thumb for Vitality vs Dex/Str/Int choice :

  • In group casually : if you're playing casually and don't aim for pushing GR further : spend points in Vitality until you never die. This vary vastly depending on the class and the build you play and your skill at the game. Since you're in group you don't have to worry that much about DPS.
  • In group competitively : If you're aiming for the highest GR possible, It depends on what role you are playing on the team. If you're support/ZDPS then Vitality first is the way to go, you have to stay alive, not dish damage. On the contrary if you are the DPS then all point go to Main Stat. The ZDPS of the group should take all the aggro anyway so you don't have to worry about dying.
  • In Solo casually : Same rule as for casual group except that if you die too frequently, you might want to lower the difficulty level. Farming fatster is more efficient than farming at higher difficulty. I'd go with vitality first until nothing can one-shot you (again it depends on your class/build/skill) then Main Stat.
  • In solo competitively : Main Stat first is the way to go if you aim for the highest GR possible. You can't afford to lack damage. Killing faster > Surviving Longer.

This is the order in which I'd prioritize all the Core Paragon point :

1. Movespeed : The movespeed bonus you get from Parangon point + items is capped at 25% . Putting your point in movespeed first will free an affix on your boots to get something like +15% to skill damage. Usually you want boots with Main Stat/ Vitality/All Resistances/Skill Damage. Also movespeed helps a lot staying alive in Greater Rifts.

2. From this point it depends :

  • If your build requires you to empty your resource pool in order to deal damage, then maxing max resource is the way to go. Furthemore maxing max resource allows you to take better advantage of items such as Reaper's Wraps which refill your resource based on a percentage of your max resource pool.
  • If you don't have to worry about your resource pool and if you are playing a ZDPS (Zero DPS) build, which consist only in you tanking damage and drawing aggro, then you should pick vitality first.
  • In any other situation I'd go with main stat. Strength and Dexterity will boost your armor and Intelligence will get you all resistances so no matter what you still get toughness along with a better DPS. When you'll need to push higher Greater Rifts maxing your main stat is mandatory anyway so you don't lack DPS.

However keep in mind that this is a competitive approach of Paragon usage. If you are playing more casually, you might want to aim for vitality first so you don't worry about taking damage and dying until you're comfortable enough to go for more damage.

Improve this answer
3
  • The question is explicitly about Main stat vs Vit. Move speed is obviously the first priority.
    – Dallium
    Nov 24, 2015 at 7:12
  • @Dallium Yes but I think this stat vs this stat questions doesn't help many people which is why I gave the order priority for all core paragon stat. For example having maxed max ressource by 400 is not necessarily usefull so blindly putting point in it might not help you as much as those points could. The answer still adress your point though : Main stat first unless ZDPS build or you feel to Squishy pushing in GR.
    – WizLiz
    Nov 24, 2015 at 7:23
  • It helps literally everyone with paragon over 400. I had thought I made it clear I was talking about extremely high paragon levels, but i hadn't. I've updated the question.
    – Dallium
    Nov 24, 2015 at 7:29
1

There is no hard and fast rule here, in general if you feel that you're dying frequently then you have no choice but add vitality until you are able to make up for it on gear unless you subscribe to the thought that the best defense is a good offense.

Several builds suffer from this problem, demon hunters for example in top end gear feel "squishy". On the other hand even at greater rift 55 a well but not top end geared monk can survive quite well. The demon hunter might add vitality where the monk does not.

Additionally, if you've prioritized life % on gear over vitality then an investment in vitality may quickly pay rich dividends.

How much is vitality worth? At level 70, 100 life per point. source

Straight hit point numbers don't tell the whole story however. 1,000,000 hit points won't last long if you have 0 resistances thus people usually talk in effective health pool.

Effective Health Pool is calculated as TotalHealthPool / (1-Armor Reduction)(1-Resist Reduction)(1-DodgeReduction)*(1-Any other dmg reduction you want). The particular values are explained elsewhere.EHP

The bottom line is, if you don't need the vitality for a particular reason, default to main stat.

Improve this answer
5
  • Note that 8000 dexterity maxes dodge at 100% I'm not sure what you mean by this. Dexterity no longer up dodge chance, at least for demon hunter. Then I'll agree with you to a certain degree, vitality helps survive but past a certain point some unavoidable damage one shot you no matter what so you'd just better go main instead of wasting point in vitality. (Source I'm a Demon hunter who achieved GR63 =p)
    – WizLiz
    Oct 3, 2015 at 13:06
  • The dodge comment is outdated as dex doesn't increase dodge chance anymore. What do you mean by "Warriors gain 2 life for every point of vitality"? Do you mean melee classes? And by sorcerers do you mean ranged classes? I feel like parts of this answer have been copypasted from somewhere without proof reading.
    – Elise
    Oct 3, 2015 at 14:01
  • Are you talking about D&D? Warriors? Sorcerers? This question is about Diablo 3...
    – Zack T.
    Oct 3, 2015 at 14:11
  • @ZackT. Used the wrong part of the Diablo wiki, updated.
    – Tharius
    Oct 3, 2015 at 14:46
  • @WizLiz Removed the info about dodge as outdated.
    – Tharius
    Oct 3, 2015 at 14:47

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .