As usual, some of my friends are racing ahead through the story while I'm stuck at work earning a living. Now, I'm aware that you can't join somebody who is playing a later act, but what about joining somebody at a later point in the same act?
In Diablo II, you could skip straight from the beginning of an act to the last boss if there was somebody else in the game to portal to. Has this changed in Diablo 3, and if so, what are the new rules/mechanics involved?
Best Answer
Once you have unlocked a difficulty level, you can play any act/quest on that difficulty level if you join a friend's party. (i.e. With a brand new character, you can join someone on Normal Act IV with no problem, but you can't join someone playing playing Inferno act I).
As for mechanics, if you haven't unlocked an artisan (such as the blacksmith), joining a quest after that artisan is unlocked will instantly unlock them for you.
The problem you run into with jumping straight to later quests is the exp penalty when playing with characters who have a major difference in level. You are expected to be playing with other characters within 5 levels of your own, and if you aren't there are experience penalties for the lower level character if the characters are more than 5 levels apart.