Prepare for the End - Paragon 1000

I play a lot of Diablo III. Well, at least comparatively to the people I know. It is a reliable outlet for relaxation and on-demand game play that I use to escape some of the nonsense in the world. Especially in the last year or so.

Anyways, such an unconscious commitment puts me in a position where I am able to compete against some of the best Diablo III players around the world. I have pretty decent gear. Some would say best in slot. My augmentations (gear stat enchants) are reasonably high across the board, having put countless hours into slowly leveling gems. I don't play in groups often, nor do I have a high GR pushing team to get accelerated XP and substantially higher level gems (<=20 levels higher).

Despite this, for the last 3 seasons in a row I have consistently placed in the top 50 of the Barbarian leader board at some point, and usually remain in the top 300 before the season ends. Mostly, this is unintentional as I do not fish for magical, planets aligned greater rifts nor do I push high level content overly frequently. In the few occasions that I do, I usually place somewhere that is respectable. Otherwise it generally doesn't concern me.

However, finally reaching Paragon level 1000 warrants at least some kind of attempt. I have been playing as a LeapQuake Barb for most of the season, a build that performs well across the board and requires some interesting stat balancing to achieve a comfortable spell rotation. Doing so will result in a lot of your damage mitigation achieved by simply being airborne, avoiding horrors with well placed/timed leaps. The following is a recording of the third, on-time attempt.

Thankfully the GRift was nice enough to grant me a well placed power pylon and give me Hamelin as the final boss. This particular boss is a Barb's best friend, allowing one to maintain maximum rampage stacks for most of the fight, providing a considerable damage and tankiness boost.

It is interesting to note that, at the time of writing this, of the other 49 Barbarians in the top 50, 46 of them are Raekor Barbs - a Furious Charge glass cannon fishing build that makes me ill. The 4 of us who are LeapQuake Barbs are ranked with Paragon levels as follows: 16th (2063), 27th (1570), 46th (1065) and 49th (1001). By comparison, the number 1 position is held by a Raekor's Barb with Paragon level 3101! By comparison, it seems I play hardly any Diablo III at all.

I have also been playing Season 5 content on a monk with two good mates who have progressed very nicely for themselves. I will likely continue my Diablo III playtime with them.