yeah it's definitely possible to get through with no ah/no grinding, at least in my class, but i do feel that drops could be a little better than they are. i'm at the diablo fight, and literally all of the equipment i'm currently using is from hell mode except my weapon (780 1h, dropped in act 3), off-hand (source, dropped in act 2), and amulet (purchased from a merchant in act 2). and i've had decent valor stacks for the most part - not a constant 5, but usually 3+.
my major trouble spots were belial (hundreds of tries lol i suck) and izual (probably like 80 tries). nothing else killed me repeatedly, but i did have to leave and resume games 2-3 times to get better maps in some places - getting camped at entrance by elite soul lashers is not fun. i can kill most elite packs with some effort and a lot of kiting, though many of them will give me the out of time debuff and i have to get out of range and then come back before their hp resets. the really awful packs i just teleport past or lead into a corner or try to abuse terrain somehow (eg heart of the damned map - i could lure the elites, including an invulnerable minions pack, to a level far below and shoot at them from above, and they just stood there and died).
diablo is also giving me trouble but that's in part because my mouse broke, and he's definitely doable if i play sufficiently well. i can even survive a hit from him unless he melees with his damage curse or poison on or lands the exploding fireball. the fight just takes forever and there's so much time to make a mistake.
anyway, it looks like they are in fact addressing the gear issue, so i doubt there'll be anything to complain about after the next patch.
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