Alright so today I wanna dump my brain on Diablo 3 loot hunting – spent weeks grinding like mad for better gear and boy, did I learn stuff the hard way. Was super frustrating at first, basically tossing legendaries right into the salvage pit because the stats sucked. Finally figured out a system that actually works.
Hitting the Wall and Starting Experiment
Felt totally stuck on my seasonal Barb. Smacking demons in Torment VI was fine, but stepping up? Got slapped silly. Needed better gear yesterday. So first thing I did? Went back to square one. Lowered the difficulty to something I could clear fast, like Torment IV maybe. Spammed Normal Rifts like crazy. Speed was key, not the challenge. Each clear showered me in yellows and maybe a legendary or two. Took notes after every session: average time per rift, how many legs dropped, how many blood shards I got. Basic stuff, but gave me data.
Figuring Out Where the Good Stuff Drops
Okay, so rifts were okay, but I wanted specific stuff. Needed those Might of the Earth boots. Here’s the big misconception I had: Magic Find (MF) is basically useless for getting legendaries. Wasted gems thinking more MF = more loot. Nope. Focused entirely on maxing my damage and toughness to clear higher levels faster. That’s the real magic.
- Bosses & Treasure Goblins: Cool fight, but honestly? Not worth the time just for loot. Greed portals are fun though.
- Greater Rifts (GRs): This is where it clicked. Forget MF entirely. GRs ignore it! The higher tier you finish, guaranteed legendaries drop when you beat the Guardian. Plus, tons of Blood Shards. My strategy? Spammed regular rifts for keys and shards fast, then burned my keys doing highest GR I could comfortably clear in under 7-8 minutes for maximum efficiency.
- Blood Shards with Kadala: Hoooo boy, this lady is fussy. Blew thousands of shards trying to get those boots. Trick? Only target single pieces – boots, shoulders, gloves – where you really need one thing. Don’t blow shards on amulets or weapons early on, chances are too low. Feels bad spending 500 shards and getting blues, but persistence paid off eventually when she coughed up an ancient piece.
- Kanai’s Cube Upgrades: Game changer! Started collecting every Death’s Breath I could find. Farmed yellows I didn’t need, dumped them into the Cube. Converted set pieces – HUGE for completing sets when you have duplicates. Rerolled legendary stats – expensive but worth it for that perfect damage roll on my weapon. Took like 15 tries once!
The Big Breakthroughs
After days of grinding, patterns emerged:
- Stop hoarding: If a legendary doesn’t fit your build IMMEDIATELY, salvage it (unless it’s insanely rare). Mats are gold.
- GR Guardians are ATMs: Beating a GR 70 unlocks Ancient Primals, but even lower GRs guarantee leg drops. Speed run GRs for consistent loot flow.
- Cube is King: Seriously, farm Death’s Breaths like your life depends on it. Upgrade yellows constantly, reroll that garbage stat gear.
- Targeted Farming: Need a specific ring? Farm bounties for Act-specific bounty caches. Takes longer but sometimes it’s the only way.
What Actually Worked For Me
Here’s the exact routine I stuck with for two weeks straight:
- Start with fast Normal Rifts (Torment X, under 3 mins) to get keys and some shards.
- Burn all GR keys doing speedy clears (GR 75-80, 5 mins tops). Grab loot, tons of shards, level gems.
- Dump ALL blood shards into Kadala for the last missing set pieces or specific slots.
- Any Death’s Breaths? Immediately farm yellows or use mats to Upgrade Rare in Cube for weapons/jewelry.
- Check drops, salvage 99%, keep pushing GR levels slowly.
Took discipline, felt tedious sometimes. But seeing my Ancient Might boots finally drop? Pure bliss. Suddenly Torment XVI was doable, farming got easier. Rinse and repeat. Now my Barb hits like a truck full of anvils.