Patch 1.0.7 made almost every Act viable farming for different reasons.

People have been farming Act 3 for the last months due to the most XP per hour. But you actually don't get the most loot out of these Act 3 runs, and definitely not the most Demonic Essences per hour neither due to more elites in Act 1/2.

I did a few tests on MP6 because higher MPs actually benefits way more now due to more XP per MP level and also higher drop chance of DE. I played my CM wizard with a HoTa barb. We actually came up with that Act 1/2 gave equal amount of elites per minute and that Act 3 had way more trash (which is obvious) but not as many elites. So if you want to purely farm loot and Demonic Essences you should try this Act 1 or 2 route out. I also counted goblins and events as elites, since they also have a chance drop DE and similiar loot sometimes.

Act 1 - You basically go to Festering Woods first and enter all the caves you usually find 4-6 elites in this area. You then WP to Cemetery of the Forsaken, an elite can spawn just at the WP and 1-4 elites in each crypt. You can now reset the game or do the pony level aswell where you will always find 4-5 elites. I found the most loot in Act 1 due to using the most out of 5 stacks, and it took 13 Minutes, finding 16 elite packs with the pony level and without it took 9 Min finding 12 elite packs. This run is much better than you might think.

Act 2 - You can either purely do Vault of the Assassin located in Desolate Sands, you will get a checkpoint here. You will find 7-9 elites in VoA. You can then either reset the route or do Black Canyon Mines aswell which grants the same elites per minute. I found the most Demonic Essences doing this run, the run took about 6 Minutes finding 8-9 elite packs (only Vault of the Assassin).

Act 3 - This is the Act most of you probably have farmed, it's the most XP efficient has the most trash mobs but not as high elite density like Act 1 and 2 has. In MP6 I usually found 1 elite pack per minute.

I just wanted to share this so the people that are really bored of Act 3 can try out these routes and actually benefit from them aswell. :)

Posted in: farming