Many of the old farming techniques still work from pre-patch, but one of the biggest issues people are having is the dps loss they received from the IAS nerf and from the NT nerf (for DHs). I wanted to offer up the most efficient ways I have found to farm since patch 1.0.3 came out to try and help everyone out. Of my 4 methods, I highly recommend Method 2 if undergeared, and Method 3 if geared.
The main thing to consider is that since the patch, the most efficient way of farming is not boss farming with 5 stacks NV, but instead elite pack/champion farming with 5 stack NV. The reason for this is that with 5 stacks of NV, each elite pack/champion is guaranteed to drop at least 1 rare. Depending on what difficulty you do this in and how much mf you have, the chances for that rare being good (either ilvl63 or a good roll) can vary.

4 useful farming methods I've found since the patch:

-Method 1: Farming the ledge spot in a3.
For information on this go to: http://forums.d2jsp.org/topic.php?t=63254419&f=142, or simply watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu9Dtjph … hcFCssgv6A
While this method still works (easily kill a3 elites, safely switch to full MF gear), there are 4 main/inherent problems.
**First: they seemed to have nerfed the map spawn rate, meaning there is now an equal chance to spawn the wrong map (unable to safely ledge farm).
**Second: with IAS nerf and NT nerf for dh's, killing time has been significantly increased until your gear has been re-itemized.
**Third: you don't benefit from the 5 stack NV buff which guarantees a rare drop per pack. A lot of people have been going up to level 1 afterwards and clearing those elites as well, but once again its time consuming/dangerous and you might only get 1-2 pack benefit of the 5 stack NV buff.
**Fourth: the significant increase to repair bills made it so that dying a lot is VERY costly(being full red is around 40-60k (i believe depending on gear)), and this method requires you die to get the mobs in place, not to metion dying to your own stupid mistakes. The way I have somewhat gotten around this is when luring mobs, get them to the right spot, caltrops them and then SS/vault away quickly so they can't follow (for DH's obviously) while getting to the ledge spot. Takes practice, but you can avoid dying and still getting them to the right spot which saves a lot of repair bills. This method is much costlier now though, and slower/less efficient with the NT and IAS nerf.


-Method 2: Farm Act 1 Elites.
Open up a warden game and go to every spot you know that's easily accessible and contains elites packs/champions. I quickly get 5 stacks and then just farm spam all locations of elites packs. With the 5 stack NV buff, you are guaranteed 1 rare per pack with 5 stacks. In act 1, there is a lot less danger in switching to MF gear before the killshot, which means I can go to 320+mf per elite pack kill with a guaranteed rare. There is a chance to drop ilvl 61, 62, and 63 items in act 1 (see chart below) which makes it worthwhile if you can't do later acts. While this is a lower chance for better items, the clear rate and MF you have is so fast and high that it can outweigh the fact that you are farming a1 for gear. I then proceed to check for treasure goblins in known locations (cellar) and then full clear inferno ponies which still give nice loot and guaranteed 1 rare per pack (4 packs?).
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List of elite pack spots Act 1:
Cemetery of the Forsaken (all 3 crypts for 4-6 packs, with chance of one in outside area)
Festering woods (usually 1-2 packs walking around, with 1 pack guaranteed in each crypt/hole)
Halls of Agony levels 1-3 including the Warden's area (pretty sure 2-4 packs per level, and usually 2-3 elite packs in warden area)
The Watchtower
--Feel free to list any more quick and easy access locations to add to the list.  Not in game right now so can't think of them all.

This is easily doable for most people in bad/mediocre gear (cost less than 1.5million gold to gear up). The only negative to this, is there is only a 2% chance for ilvl 63 and a 9.9% chance for either ilvl 62 or 63. It is still quick and fast rares.


-Method 3: Farm Act 3 Elites/Full Clear.
This depends on your gear, but inherently the same as option 2 in method/execution. Open up an Azmodan game and full clear/elite clear the act. They changed the game even more to focus on 5 stack NV farming for rares instead of boss runs with 5 stacks. The most efficient way to farm is simply 5 stack yourself and farm elite mobs. With the recent nerfs to a2 and a3, with a decent HP pool (45k+) and mediocre resists (250+), you can even take a few hits from the mobs. Yes, you do less damage so your clears won't be as fast, but the mobs also hit for a lot less so you won't get 1-shot a majority of the time. Act 4 still hurts really bad, so its not worth suffering through in my opinion. You should keep your MF gear with you, in case you are in a spot where you can switch into it before you kill an elite pack.
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List of elite pack spots Act 3:
The Keep Depths levels 1-3 (4 packs level 1, 3 packs level 2, 2 packs level 3 i believe)
Tower of the Damned levels 1-2 (usually 2-3 packs per level)
--Feel free to list any more quick and easy access locations to add to the list.  Not in game right now so can't think of them all.

The most efficient way I have found for act 3 is just to full clear it instead of hopping around looking for elites. This is still pretty gear dependent, so unless you can do 55k+ without SS (DH again), it will be a slower clear. The key is to minimize deaths to keep repair costs down, so its not worth farming this if you have to spend a full repair bill for every elite pack. The benefits of this of course, are the much higher chance to drop good loot. (8% ilvl 63, 16.1% ilvl 62). Feel free to kill Azmodan before your next run, but they did change him and with the dps nerf he is more difficult. He is worth skipping if you can not kill him very easily.

-Method 4: Farm Sarkoth.
This is a simple goldfind technique that has been around forever. Watch how: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g8vxQ-xr6o
I would only recommend this method if you are too lazy/undergeared to efficiently farm act 1, and you are definitely to undergeared to farm act 3. This requires as much goldfind as possible to make it a worthwhile(preferably 240%+ with the max being 357% i believe). You don't need gold pickup radius on these goldfind items which could make them much cheaper. Can get anywhere from 2-8k gold per run, which can take 20-45 seconds with around a 65% spawn rate. You also can get blues/rares which have the same 2% chance to be ilvl 63 I believe(not confirmed). To be efficient, this method highly depends on how much goldfind you are wearing, how quickly you can kill, how quickly you can leave/create games, and your luck with finding open cellars.

Quote (ninetyfive @ Jun 20 2012 12:36pm)
Method 5. A2 Goblins.
Road to Alcarnus
Ancient Path
Black Canyon Mines

Method 6. Maghda runs (As easy as Butcher, but better loot).
Get 5 stacks while walking from Black Canyon Mines. 1-3 Goblins total outside, multiple dungeon diving areas optional, Maghda easy boss to kill, better % chance at ilvl 63.




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Drop rates per act:
Inferno - Act I
~iLvl 61: 17.7%
~iLvl 62: 7.9%
~iLvl 63: 2.0%
Inferno - Act II
~iLvl 61: 18.6%
~iLvl 62: 12.4%
~iLvl 63: 4.1%
Inferno - Act III and Act IV
~iLvl 61: 24.1%
~iLvl 62: 16.1%
~iLvl 63: 8.0%


Feel free to offer any input/insight on these methods or other good farming techniques to be included in the 1.0.3 farming guide.

TLDR: 4 options
1. Farm a3 ledge spot if you want/have low dps/are lazy, and minimize your deaths in order for it to be efficient. No bonus rares.
**2. Farm act 1 elites for quick clears, a lot more yellows, but 95%+ shitty drops. Bonus rares for every pack.
**3. Farm a3 (or a2) for slow but survivable clears, a lot of yellows, but a much higher chance for good/godly drops. Bonus rares for every pack.
4. Goldfind farm Sarkoth a1 (minimum 240 gold find i to be worthwhile imo). Good gold per run with small chance of decent drop.


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