Predict what's getting nerfed next.

Diamond Flasks.

"

SlippyCheeze wrote:

In general, though, that doesn't seem to be the way GGG want to steer the game. They seem to prefer a relatively consistent level of power over time, and will reduce - nerf - the power of things that are too dominant rather than raising the overall power level by bringing everything up to that level.

Yeah, but the real trick is to curb the power of OP builds without flushing everything else that relies on the same mechanic down the toilet. That is what GGG (and a lot of other game developers, to be fair) apparently have trouble with. The recent ES changes are one good example. Another one is how GGG nerfed totem life in 3.0. Apparently, they wanted to rein in DP totem builds which looked too powerful in beta, but they also ended up killing RF totems in the process. Sometimes it's really painful to watch the developers use an executioner's axe when all the game needs is a touch of surgeon's scalpel - and once again, GGG aren't the only ones guilty of this...

"

DGTLDaemon wrote:

Sometimes it's really painful to watch the developers use an executioner's axe when all the game needs is a touch of surgeon's scalpel

This sentence here needs an oscar ..it's the exact reason why this game is dying due to constant nerfs.

GGG always destroys general mechanics that affect 90% of buids just because they want to nerf 1 skill

I want to hear an argument about why Vaal Pact should be nerfed...

... that doesn't also apply to Enfeeble and Fortify.

Aaaaaaand GO!

"

ShadyC wrote:

I want to hear an argument about why Vaal Pact should be nerfed...

... that doesn't also apply to Enfeeble and Fortify.

Aaaaaaand GO!

The general consensus seems to be that stacking defenses is the proper way of ensuring survivability as opposed to having one skill that makes you virtually unkillable...

"

DGTLDaemon wrote:

"

ShadyC wrote:

I want to hear an argument about why Vaal Pact should be nerfed...

... that doesn't also apply to Enfeeble and Fortify.

Aaaaaaand GO!

The general consensus seems to be that stacking defenses is the proper way of ensuring survivability as opposed to having one skill that makes you virtually unkillable...

Vaal Pact does not mitigate any damage. It merely lets you replenish what already happened to you.

You cannot leech when dead.

Vaal Pact is not a solo defense.

high damage + vaal pact is the problem...
avoid one shots and u r free to go

Ok, well...

Nerf Vaal Pact and what do you have left? Literally 1 specific viable build path left? No ES, no Vaal Pact, so what? The way YOU like to play? That's why you want VP nerfed? Because you play some other shit, and you wanna spite other people?

There's no reason to nerf VP.

Maybe after that, we'll nerf the next thing that everyone ends up using.

Because that's what PoE is. Pigeonhole the players into specific shit, then nerf them because everyone is using them.

This whole place is fucking retarded. The game, the forums, all of it. Everything. Everyone.

"

ShadyC wrote:

Ok, well...

Nerf Vaal Pact and what do you have left? Literally 1 specific viable build path left? No ES, no Vaal Pact, so what? The way YOU like to play? That's why you want VP nerfed? Because you play some other shit, and you wanna spite other people?

There's no reason to nerf VP.

Maybe after that, we'll nerf the next thing that everyone ends up using.

Because that's what PoE is. Pigeonhole the players into specific shit, then nerf them because everyone is using them.

This whole place is fucking retarded. The game, the forums, all of it. Everything. Everyone.

And that's exactly what I was talking about earlier - you need to address specific overperforming builds instead of applying blanket nerfs. Right now VP + Cloaked in Savagery appears to be a game-breaking combination, so it need to be toned down somehow without wrecking every single build that uses VP. And overall, there should be some sort of balance between normal leech and VP that would make both options equally attractive. Right now it's simply not the case, there are only two reasons NOT to take VP: 1) if you're planning on farming uber lab, and 2) if VP is too far from your building path on the skill tree. One way to address it would be to reduce the amount of life leeched through VP (and the leech rate cap), so that you would have a choice between leeching more life over time, or leeching less life instantly. But that's just a suggestion, I'm sure there are other ways to balance VP vs. regular leech.

VP needs nerfing, but i wouldn't ask GGG to nerf it because their record for nerfs is frankly appalling. If they do what i expect it'll just be slayer thats top ascendancy next league and a very similar playstyle (not quite as OP but close).

There are alot of things interlinked currently that I think can be summarized as defences too weak, offence too strong. This needs tweaking but again GGG don't really hold up in the balance department for me, they frequently make changes but the changes they make tend to ignore glaring oversights and i can't understand their angle.