Is it possible to make Zod+Cham more useful without adding more OP runewords? For example, make useful cube recipes that consume Zods. Perhaps letting splitting of higher runes into lower ones by consuming a Zod (an-anti combine recipe). Zods are rare enough that this would only be used to split jahs into bers and cham into jahs and it won’t happen very often. Zod and cham value would be tied to ber/jah value and since they are rarer I think they should be on-par in value. You’d effectively trade 3 chams or Zod+jah for 2 jah and 3 cham is still rarer than 2 jah so I don’t think it will flood the economy with a bunch of jah/bers. Plus it feels like too many end-game runewords now require ber or even 2 bers. This would even out the distribution for high-runes such that they all have value which seems to be a goal stated in the dev interview.
The addition of new runewords are always tricky. If the item is too weak then it’s as if it doesn’t exist. But no one wants another Grief situation where a runeword makes all melee weapons useless. We already have spirit which dominates shields to the point no unique shield have much value beside HoZ. Enigma just makes almost all armor look useless in comparison and the previously mentioned grief. I’m happy if case-specific runewords like Dream are added but it’s very difficult to predict how the community will use specific items and builds. Some abilities such as hydra definitely need a buff and maybe case specific runeword for these abilities will be a good use case for Cham/Zod. However, I don’t think it’s good to have a must-have helment runeword for example.
This would change the game economy but it would be the same change if new runewords are added. New uses mean the economy will change regardless.
Cube recipes would make Zods+Chams valuable without changing the power level of players because it’s still the same equipment that the players can use. Once you buff player power, you may need to consider monster power relative to the player power for example and the game is already not a challenge for full builds. Plus cube recipes consume the runes and act as a currency sink removing the rune from circulation.
just nerf grief from 340-400 damage to 150-200 damage and game will be more variable. But we need more options to play melee characters who need high attack rating for the successful hit. When i go to the uber-location i can do nothing without smiter. Only 1 charachter on the 81 lvl can bit ubers with low gear without expensive items and runewords (smite paladin). Why another characters cant deal so much phisical damage with 100% chance to hit? Problem is a lot of missed attacks. If another classes can deal 90-100% hits without losing HP it will be more fun i think. I try to play zeal paladin and die so fast because 30-40% attack was lost.
I agree it is indeed very difficult to get an attack suitable for a melee at the moment. I really really like the challenge though. Ravenfrost plus metal grid, or the Angelic duo will get you there.
I did do ubers solo in my first ever attempt at level 89 Frenzy Barb. It was okay to do, but Lilliath gave me real problems.
I know it isnt popular, but a nerf to casters would be better than a buff to melee in my opinion. Make those gear choices really count.
Casters do nothing vs ubers. Nerf casters dont help with ubers anyway. I think casters is okey, they have troubles with immunities and must choose optimal build for farm and they have no chance to beat ubers.
I would actually say that melee has problems due to the way defence works in game. Attacks of opponent either being hit or miss and always do same damage when hit. That is way more of a problem when have to get in close and always quite a few hits land especially in early Hell where it will take longer to kill unless you farmed NM a lot.
Now only way to really stop that is doing damage from distance, which almost all best builds for melee rely on or being able to kill so fast you do not or hardly ever get hit, for which you need the BIS items like grief.
i mean i am purely talking end game when you got all the necessary gear.
Even with top gear, melees are not fast at all and very boring to play due to it and mostly being autoattack
True, they still kill relatively slowly as melee even with BIS items due to less aoe damage or other abilities to hit more opponents that are not strongly hindered by immunities or AR. Then that was how game was designed and we will have to see if the new skill changes and other changes might improve that a bit.
Still I saw nothing that will really cure the basic flaw for melee chars, that mainly only can be solved now by having BIS items so you kill fast enough or do your damage from a distance. AOE damage applied by melee would of course also fall under the faster killing heading, but for some it would be to big a break with original game.
I think the new runewords should target buffing each individual melee build. This way we have variety where each option is useful for something and not everyone trying to get the exact same few items.
Words should also have a boost to not just pure power but attribute like faster run walk. You have to actually run up to things to hit them. It would make playing a lot more enjoyable.
guess melees would need more aoe skills or something like that (ww for example should normally work nicely, just doesn’t do good dmg)
generally good make things like:
Fury druid that can use hurricane and hurricane get big synergy from fury and wolf mastery or something like that.
I mean no need to really reinvent the wheel completely. Or just make rabies actually do dmg in pve and always hit the target (e.g. like poison nova)
zeal pala good just massively increase aura dmg for 5 secs after hitting a target or make it pulse for every zeal or whatever
For example in D3 melees work also fine even though D3 is an absolute smash fest gogogo, mainly because they use skills to kill rather than auto attacks unlike in d2
Why would you use literally the rarest drop in the game for such a recipe? It takes like an hour or two if solo to speed through normal and get Larzuk quest. They need to introduce new runewords that use Zod except BotD, worthy of the rarity of this rune.
Does everybody around here run around with a stash full of Zods?
I don’t get it? What are you talking about. I so really like this posts when someone contradicts someone, but omits to bring in the argument. Are you talking about Tyrael Might? If you do, than you are wrong.
On a player 1 setting, with 0% MF, a Tyraels Might has a 1:271020 chance of dropping from Hell Baal (quest drop), which is the highest odds. With that same setting, a zod rune has a 1:2987183 chance.
