I've just completed Normal on my Wizard and starting Nightmare Act 1. However I'm a little worried - I like the idea of farming better kit in order to progress, but the trouble is that the stuff on the AH is so cheap (I only found a 28dps dagger through all of Normal, but got a 52dps wand for 3k off the AH which probably dropped in Nightmare) that it's very easy and tempting to just kit up through there. Is that how most people are doing it - blast through Nightmare and onto Hell with a lot of AH assistance, before you start to get more appropriate drops of your own?
It'd be nice if there came a stage where there was a nice balance between the rewards of farming gold and the boss drops you can get yourself.
I've done this. Have probably had 2/3 drops throughout leveling which are of any relevance to me and an upgrade vs my current gear. I'm in Hell Act IV at Diablo.