Still an AoE spam game?

Coming back to test out the game, been a good 2-3 months since ive played.

Back then it was a AoE spam fest with Witches and Templars running wild with AoE. Single Target DPS was impossible to play.

Curious at the current state of the game. Can Duelists survive in Maelstrom? Is AoE still the way to go?

If any high level people can fill me in on the current state of the game, that would be great.

back then it does not have to be aoe spam. and it still does not have to be that way.

I have just recently been invited into beta, I havent gotten a chance to play PoE but aren't most action rpgs AoE spam fests?

Many of the D2 skills were AoE as well as Torchlight and I believe titans quest as well

the devs admit it was a aoe spam game so his question is a good one.

i would say an emphatic yes, yes its different and many builds besides the 2 you mention are very good and fun.

only way to know is saddle up and roll.

This is a game where there are many low hp monsters and few heroes. It's natural that AOE will be more effective at killing mobs. You'd probably prefer a game with fewer high HP monsters, where the main goal is killing huge bosses.

Few skills are single target. Yet the few skills that are, are quite good when it comes to killing bigger mobs/bosses.
This is the way it should be.

im not using aoe, currently im having fun with my minions and dual wands.

AoE spamming is still the way to go, unfortunately.

Witches only have two particularly good spells at the moment - Ice Spear and Firestorm. They work well as AoE in early levels, but once you get around to the Maelstrom of Chaos, enemies have enough hp (or I have so little damage) that I have to use them mostly as single-target attacks.

wtf why would you want to use single target skill vs hordes of opponents in chaos when you have goodly melee aoe skills ?