Diablo III Release - Survival Guide for Marathon Gaming

I know many of us are excited for Diablo III's release and will be spending massive amounts of time playing as soon as the game comes out. Many of us have taken time off of work or will be spending every waking moment that we have available playing. I am writing this guide to help the community here at r/diablo get the most out of their play time.

For some background, I livestream for a living and have pulled many marathons and all night sessions playing video games. While this is considered unhealthy, there are steps you can take to optimize your bodies ability to handle the stress of being up so long.

What you will need:

• 1 gallon jug of water
• Apple/Orange or a 100% juice beverage of your choice
• Pre cooked, portioned or ready to eat foods.
• Healthy snacks, granola bars, fruit etc
• Caffeinated beverages

1. Stay Hydrated

Dehydration is the number one cause of making your body feel sluggish, without proper hydration all functions in your body decrease making you feel tired. Keeping a 1 gallon jug of water next to your gaming station will give you easy access to make sure you are running at 100%.

2. Eat Smart

Your body constantly churns energy to keep itself going, eating a small portion of food every 3-4 hours and snacking between that time will keep you motivated and alert. I like to pre-cook stir fries or other light snacks before I head into a epic gaming session for easy access. Lean protein such as chicken or sandwich meats are a solid way to keep your body fueled.

Get up and move

While it's hard to peel yourself away from a game that you have been anticipating for over a decade, standing up and doing a few jumping jacks and stretching your legs for 2 minutes every few hours will greatly improve your energy and longevity while gaming.

Sugar/Caffeine

We all love energy drinks, mt dew, coffee and other things that provide us energy while we game. Moderation is key here. Slamming a 12 pack of dew in 6 hours will get you riled up to kill some demons, but 12 hours later you will be crashing.

As a general rule, I would drink 1 cup of coffee every 2-3 hours to stay awake. Caffeine is a beautiful thing, but if you get too much it will make you crash fast and hard. Using fruit juice to supplement your sugar levels is a great way to boost your energy as well as stay hydrated.

Summary

We all want to get the most out of our play time upon release. Ordering a pizza and grabbing a case of mt dew will be a great way to start the marathon. But after your first gaming session you will go to sleep feeling like crap, sleep longer and be less energetic when you wake up.

Plan ahead, do it up right from the first night on and you will be gaming hard all week.

Cheers