Deadeye Ascendancy & Farshot

Reference Deadeye Ascendancy

Farshot: Projectile Attacks gain damage as they travel farther, dealing up to 30% more Damage to targets

Why on Earth would GGG want to not only incentivize but reward this type of gameplay?
Does this mean we should expect more monsters to directly counter ranged gameplay?

@GGG
Is this how you want people to play your game?
(Nothing personal re the uploader, my previous go-to video got made private D: )

Like you couldn't offscreen without it. Now it's only faster but not necessary.

What's the problem?

Peace,

-raxleberne-

"

Ashen_Shugar_IV wrote:

Farshot needs a thread.

Farshot: Projectile Attacks gain damage as they travel farther, dealing up to 30% more Damage to targets

Why on Earth would GGG want to not only incentivize but reward this type of gameplay?
Does this mean we should expect more monsters to directly counter ranged gameplay?

@GGG
Is this how you want people to play your game?
(Nothing personal re the uploader, my previous go-to video got made private D: )

Well, they won't play like that with Far Shot, because it's Attacks only.

I'm also pretty sure that Chaining resets the age of a projectile, so Far Shot and Chain won't combo well.

In any case, I don't like the Deadeye class much, because archers don't have many offensive weaknesses, and archer builds would benefit much more from the utility of either Raider or Pathfinder.

"

ScrotieMcB wrote:

I'm also pretty sure that Chaining resets the age of a projectile, so Far Shot and Chain won't combo well.

No, it doesn't. Fork/Chain/etc are treated as a continuation of the original projectile, including the distance it's already traveled. Chain will pretty much be ideal with farshot.


As for the OP, I completely agree, that node just reeks of poor balancing.

To get 30% more damage for doing just about the safest thing you can do doesn't just ignore risk/reward balancing, it actually goes so far as to actively spite it. (meanwhile poor Berzerker gets less of a damage increase for generally being aligned with melee AND taking 10% increased damage)

And then to only have to pay a measely 2 nodes to get it, enabling you to get any other 4-node notable you could want in the tree to pair with it, including the aforementioned chain that would work well with it. It takes any and all degree of decision-making and opportunity cost out of accessing the mechanic. (again, meanwhile poor Berzerker has to spend 4 points to reach his weaker, riskier damage notable, preventing him from getting the only other notable in the tree that would actually sync up with taking more damage)


Yeah, worst balanced node ever designed. Ever. Christ, at least the Assassin's blatantly overpowered crit mult/base crit chance per power charge node requires 4 points so you actually have to give up something to reach it (even if Ambush, the other most important notable in the tree, only requires 2 points to reach)



*edit: oh wait, looks like Berzerk got buffed up to 40% more damage, so at least now it's not a lower damage amp than Farshot. Still takes more nodes to reach and imposes significantly more risk, both from style and increased damage taken.

Hmm. That does make Far Shot quite a bit better than I thought.

To be honest, I don't have a problem with the concept of a "far away only" character. Really, I feel Far Shot is one of two Deadeye nodes which belong (Powerful Precision being the other one) - it promotes a keep-away style, and promoting playstyles with conditional bonuses is good in my book.

If I was designing Deadeye it probably would look kinda like the Slayer tree. One half would be all about the Far Shot playstyle, the other half all about the Point Blank playstyle (and possibly some defense). You'd either go two-and-one for a balanced but less synergistic build, or three-and-zero for a highly synergized build with clear weaknesses.

And yes, obviously the Far Shot half would be weaker numerically.

Stuff like Ricochet, though? That's just... silly.

"

ScrotieMcB wrote:

If I was designing Deadeye it probably would look kinda like the Slayer tree. One half would be all about the Far Shot playstyle, the other half all about the Point Blank playstyle (and possibly some defense). You'd either go two-and-one for a balanced but less synergistic build, or three-and-zero for a highly synergized build with clear weaknesses.

Too bad Slayer isn't that nicely synergized... the stun notable can't be reached with the melee splash/aoe notable (even though most stun tactics involved single-target skills or groundslam), and the overkill leech notable can't be reached with the leech-doesn't-stop-at-full notable.

To elaborate on how I'd design Deadeye:

2-pt options are Powerful Precision (as it is now) and a new notable:

Suppressing Fire
10% increased Attack and Cast Speed
10% chance to Maim on Hit
10% chance to Knock Enemies Back on Hit
25% increased Knockback distance

Taking Powerful Precision would allow you to access the following notables...

Broadside
Multiple Projectiles from a single Attack or Cast can Hit the same Enemy
Projectile Skills deal 10% less Damage for each additional Projectile
(Pathing nodes for this and Powerful Precision: Projectile Damage, Critical Strike Chance)
So you people who hated the spell shotgunning removal could travel back in time, when Freezing Pulse did 33% less damage but could shotgun, or enter a brand new world of attack shotgunning.

Nature's Herald
10% of Physical Damage added as Cold Damage
Damage Penetrates 10% of Enemy Elemental Resistances
(Pathing node: Projectile Damage, Elemental Damage)
Flexible, but it's there for Freeze-based defense; combine with Hatred and the crit from Powerful Precision for up-close safety.

Taking Suppressing Fire would allow you to access the following notables...

Sharp and Venomous
10% chance to cause Bleeding on Hit
10% chance to cause Poison on Hit
25% increased Physical Damage against Poisoned Enemies
25% increased Chaos Damage against Bleeding Enemies
(Pathing nodes for this and Suppressing Fire: Projectile Damage, Attack and Cast Speed)
Synergizes well with Suppressing Fire, putting lots of DoT on enemies and increasing the time it takes for them to reach you.

Far Shot
Projectiles gain damage as they travel farther, dealing up to 30% more Damage to targets
(Pathing node: Projectile Damage, Projectile Speed)
Now open to casters as well. Powerful Precision has some degree of synergy with Far Shot, because the piercing up close means you can still aim at distant targets, and still benefit from Chain support at long range, or invest in Pierce chance to increase crit chance. They also cover each other's weaknesses nicely.

All numbers subject to tuning, but that would be the core design.

"

Shppy wrote:

To get 30% more damage for doing just about the safest thing you can do doesn't just ignore risk/reward balancing, it actually goes so far as to actively spite it.

It might just be the single most damning anti-melee action GGG have ever taken.

Since it's only a 2pt Node there isn't even much opportunity cost within Deadeye itself. I am disgusted.

"

Ashen_Shugar_IV wrote:

Since it's only a 2pt Node there isn't even much opportunity cost within Deadeye itself. I am disgusted.

Fair enough. Updated my suggestion.