@GGG Power Creep & Life Vs. Energy Shield

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sidtherat wrote:

i play ghetto EK character with no leech whatsoever - definitely not killing everything on sight

stuns are still not an issue..

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sidtherat wrote:

i play ghetto EK character with no leech whatsoever - definitely not killing everything on sight

stuns are still not an issue..

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sidtherat wrote:

there are many issues with that - all attributed to GGGs careless approach to 'balance' (it seems that several people do balance at once without really talking with eachother, noone is supervising it and certain crucial decisions are made few hours before release + 'we do no balance changes mid league' fiasco)

1) power difference between builds is not like 95 and 105 (with 100 being the 'target power level envisioned by devs). it is more like 95 and 5000. try to balance something when players (with well crafted builds, with proper gear for these builds) have such carrying power. well made 2h RT melee build compared to BV flaskfinder - this is 95 vs 5000. builds like BV flaskfinder should NOT be possible if the game is to survive as a 'diverse' game

2) ES is too strong due to instant leech. 12k ES is ENOUGH to survive endgame without leech. Mathil did that with his trapper, i do that with my EK ghetto occultist. but on top of that we have instant leech that turns well-designed defense mechanic (ES + recharge) into Sponge with buffer and instant leech

this turns ES into Better Life. so why would anyone play anything else? (do not bring costs into that, 750 ES chest is like 40 chaos in standard, cheaper in leagues). this gear is enough for 12k ES without Discipline and with not that many %ES nodes, nor ES on jewelry/jewels:

Spoiler

life would be much 'better' if ES lost their instant leech potential. people abusing Sponge would have to play and build differently and the power gap between life/ES would go down. why not 'just buff life'? because entire game is balanced around current Life values. - it is the CI that needs correction (recent ES items boosts were 100% unnecessary.. they were just making bad worse)

3) players need to learn a thing or two about how to build characters and should NOT feel entitled to attempting and completing highest level content without understanding these. stuff like flaks (on all characters, not only pathfinders), Evasion (entire math behind 3 defence sources), how to do the Dodge/EV/AR/Acro etc math in general. people without understanding these can brute-force the game with 12k ES and instant leech. it is the only way for them to do so. there will be casualties. but if the game is to survive as a diverse, not boring, game there have to be choices. lots of them. currently ES builds offer Best Choice and a choice less-skilled players can safely take and steamrol the game

4) currently this game is lost on character creation screen.

youve selected 2h RT melee marauder? great for you, T10 is your plateau (for normal, non-die-hard players)
youve decided to copy BV flaskfinder? here is your Dying Sun for effort

this makes this game very very shallow when one wants to play 'for effect'. why play all these builds when there are options with 5000 power rating?

i know people want power - they want it because they somehow associate this power with them. but truth be told - these builds play themselves and they are doing great not because of the player but despite him.

gamedesign perspective this game is at its lowest point ever - it is getting shallower and shallower every patch. it got so shallow recently that i wonder why we still pretend there are 'skill tree and myriad of choices'. we should have pre-made classes by this day already. it is what we have. premade skills (every f.. one uses the same supports) premade characters. why the masquerade?

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biyte wrote:

he has legacy kaoms but he has done other hard boss with no chest armour at all and said himself that was a sloppy run (2h RT melee)