Hello.
I just want to voice my opinion regarding wizard items and skills.
I don’t really play this game very much or haven’t been doing so, i just check it out every update, when there are changes significant enough to impact my gameplay.
It just occurred to me, as i was thinking about “simplicity” as an overarching principle, that the skill gem “Simplicity’s Strength” still isn’t usable.
Back when i had found it for the very first time, i became fascinated by Spectral Blade and searched the internet for viable builds, or as i viewed it at that time, information to improve my own build.
Before i get to the point, i want to mention a few things:
- I liked the release of the Legacy of Dreams gem, because it made it so, that i don’t have to use the annoying Tal Rasha elemental rotation anymore. I think Tal Rasha was ideal for high dps, because it could be combined with Focus/Restraint or Traveller’s Pledge/Compass Rose unlike Legacy of Nightmares.(also don’t get me wrong, i like the idea of getting certain benefits for tradeoffs, but the way it is implemented, especially in regard to “all i get is a min. reasonable amount of damage/defense, just like everyone else” makes it annoying)
- The Firebird set is also a bit annoying to play with, because if you consider the limitations, that are required to trigger it, you already have to build or play around it to some degree.
- I also don’t think, that it’s ideal to have Legacy of Dreams without changing Legacy of Nightmares, because it leaves the Legacy of Nightmares set as a seemingly useless leftover set, since it doesn’t seem to be worth it in comparison and is probably harder to obtain, especially since the drop increase to the legancy of Dreams gem and furthermore due to its restriction to ancient items.
- Delsere’s Magnum Opus is ideal, because while it restricts a person to using Slow Time, Slow Time itself is actually an immensely powerful defensive layer.
But still the problem i’m having is not addressed by any of these things and it will never be addressed. All of the skills are useless. I mean i watched Rhykker’s Path of Exile interview, where Diablo-founders themselves commented things like not needing to have the best dps(Rhykker Q&A with David Brevik, Max & Erich Schaefer at ExileCon) or how ppl on the internet say, that you could just lower the diffiulty levels. Well, i agree, but only to some degree. Since every build utilizes a few methods to repeatedly multiply the outgoing damage, i think it would be fair to have a few items, that provide the same kind of damage output as any currently strongest build available in the game…but perhaps only half of it ? Like 50%, i mean ?
I mean, you have things like Unstable Scepter(together with 2 or 3 other legendary items) or The boots for meteor builds etc. But even with the Hydra release, you’re just rotating what’s going to be in favour. Why isn’t there a generic item, that adds a boost reasonable enough to allow total freedom of any playstyle(choosing (almost) any skill as main damage source), but yet not so big, that anybody doing ladders or rift pushes or whatever would be bothered by it as it doesn’t affect their gameplay.
I feel like something like this is mandatory, not only in regard to how “role playing games” initially fake the freedom of choice(which is then ultimately destroyed by the games hitpoint based, and therefore ultimately damage-requiring “building process”), but also in order to have some equal lvl of respect for neglected parts of the game(skills with lesser maximum damage output), which just so happen to be overshadowed due to this damage formula nonsense(or sense, since if it was nonsense, we wouldn’t have to adhere to numbers for comparisons of awesomeness).
Furthermore, since we are talking about the topic of making progress, which is ultimately the core of any game, the lvling process needs to be fine-tuned to be satisfactory at all lvls. For starters, i don’t want notifications about new skills on every lvl, especially while being power-leveled. Scaling damage, making progress, building up, be it through gems, or legendaries or other means, these kind of things are all that a game is about. When i lvl up, i want to have access to something new, and while i’m struggling to lvl up, i want to be able to farm small amounts of gold or gems to work on mechanics, that allow me to build up the damage of any 1 skill or way of playing, that EYE want to play(i didn’t know how to put emphasis on the tiny letter “i”…). Not something, that the game’s limitation makes optimal. And it doesn’t and should not make party play redundant…for power leveling in particular i could imagine sitting there, while a person is hunting down a strong boss monster, that drops beginner or low lvl items as well - possibly actually legendary items…while i hold my breath hoping, that i don’t get targeted by that boss.
While proof-reading, i want to add a remark, that it would be really cool(and would also make more sense), if sets instead of having limitations, had buffs instead. For example a fiery damage Aura for firebird’s set, or a lore-related mechanic or other benefit for the tal rasha set(whatever tal rasha is(i do not know the lore)).
There is 1 more thing, that i want to mention. The fact, that people still work on this game, updating it regularly, and that i have free access to it almost all the time with no lag and with no signs of it shutting down anytime soon, it makes me worry about the money, that must be put into the game, just to keep it alive. I mean other than winning new players, or people buying the necromancer extension, there is literally zero money being made by the game, while constantly providing new updates, which i presume requires real employees to work on the game.
The deal, that i have heard of from ancient times, was to have a human being run a hamster’s wheel to make money, where psychologists figure out, what keeps the person running. The wheel i interpreted as fun, which has been lost in many games. Thankfully, diablo 3 is still pretty fun, and while i appreciate the absence of the real money auction house(which i had to watch a video about, because i joined d3 at reaper of souls, i think), in this case the hamster’s wheel isn’t generating any money. Also, please don’t take anything out of context, with generating money i mean a reasonable amount, that allows a person to wrap their head around how the workers can be paid to regularly work on a game, that gets paid for once only. I know i’m already writing weird things, but i want to finish this. And the hamster’s wheel, that i am referring to, are the updates, that impact my gameplay. Yes, it is fun. But an ideal, optimized wheel would be, if we take into consideration the things, that i have pointed out about what i would expect ouf of a role playing game. I also do not want to differentiate between the terms of “action” rpg or “online” rpg or “MMORPG”. To me the “action” is just putting its emphasis on action, online makes anything enjoyable from a player’s perspective and “MMO” has just lost its true meaning, because those games have shifted their focus on the grind and money part of the “game”. There is already nomore game there, you are just a sitting robot in front of what you’re expecting to be “fun”. In essence, they are all the same, to me at least.
Note: This is meant as an opinion and i am posting it only, because Spectral Blade still hasn’t delivered yet. And personally, i hope, that it will deliver in a way, that competitive players have no reason to build it, so only people, who actively choose it, end up playing it, because it is cool…
