In praise of one of the things Synthesis league actually got right

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Thror2k5 wrote:

in order to get the best synthesized items, you needed tier1 rolls on your fractured items. these only come from high level content (for example : 35 movespeed boots requires ilvl 86, which turned into Onslaught implicits)

ok, so it didn't really encourage it much more than normal - aka just high ilvl bases.

it honestly didn't seem like too many people were really shooting for the stars with that synthesized bullshit, especially when it was so ridiculously expensive without guaranteed results etc. it was pretty terrible

Great things about synthesis

1) You are rewarded enough for doing high tier maps = high item level fractured bases.
2) Currency sink as synthesizing item requires you to consume orbs in rolling the mods you desire in fractured items .
3) Sextants affecting memory blocks = awesome packsize.
4) Somewhat unique chase-items like Bottled Faith, the best offensive unique flask after legacy vinktar. And as well herald rings.

Bad things about synthesis

1) Memory block reservation is limited.
2) You are forced to do nexus whether you want it or not when your memory blocks reservation is full.
3) Decay in memory nexus.

I remember clearing a ten modded tier 16 map only to get a blue 2 modded piece for the catalyst. So no, fuck synthesis and everything it stood for. They did fix it I think but by this point it was too late. I proudly extend my middle finger in its direction

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Exile009 wrote:

Note that this isn't a thread claiming that Synthesis was a great league, so don't jump down on it just cos it's a positive Synthesis thread. Anyway, in Synthesis we were actually encouraged to do high level content. This league? Nope. It's all Glacier all the time. Sure not all of you may be following that trend, but the league itself isn't responsible for that (you're going against the grain, as it were). I suppose it's a step up from endless Quarry farming or Harbor Bridge runs, but not by much. Even the toughest emblem fight - the 5-way battle - isn't typically worth it (unless you have a HH). So it'd be better to just do more lower tier emblem fights, even to the point of only running the 4-way battle to unlock the upgraded map device and then forgetting about it. Synthesis may have had other issues, but its promotion of players pushing towards high level content was a design element I think all leagues should strive for.

I get that you want higher tier content to be more rewarding, but trying to use synthesis as an example was a poor, poor choice.

Synth was rng galore tied to a clunky mechanic. If one wanted to pursue perdy triple implicits then sure, you were looking to run 83s but as we al saw most of us didn't think the effort was worth it. And, for all those perdy ES bases didn't last very long given the huge nerfs to ES right after.

Running low tier is nothing new, and as far as leagues go it largely just means that efficiency is the primary factor to the mechanic. Exalts can drop as early as the story arc, and most of the uniques restricted by area or item level short of starforge or disfavor lost a lot of demand.

Like Betrayal, the rewards for Legion are behind layers upon layers of rng, but monster level isn't nearly as important as efficiency. Even Delve was mostly the same way till sulphite was adjusted based on map tier, but even then low tier delving could net plenty of currency.

If anything, Legion is just reflective of the state of popular leagues and show just how the rng layers make higher tier play a lot more of a gamble. Lower tier mapping has a much lower price of admission, whereas the bigger end game fights are never quite a guarantee you get what you put in.

Synthesis: SKIP league content because it's waste of time, do T16 with Beyonds like in Standard League. The cortex fight is broken because things like 100% inc. AoE on boss fight makes it undoable (bosses like Cortex, Aul, UElder should never have random mods, it's impossible to balance).

Legion: actually do 5-Way Emblem since it's good alternative to doing T16 both currency and XP-wise. I never skip legion on T16 too. Also Legion's fun. Worst things about Legion league are tech: crashes, Trade API lag, Uber Elder literally didn't worked for first day of the league, and initial balance problems, like "red wave" skill (fixed after first week).

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BloodPuddles420 wrote:

Edit: vvv Such lul, I'm sure I'm pissing off enough people already.

Well on console it was better in so much that it wasn't as big of a bug and crash fest as Legion... For someone new to the series and coming into a second season the technical refinement of Legion from Synthesis was such a big let down, as it simply performed inferior with so many new bugs and sources of crashes introduced.

While I do find the Legion mechanic easier to digest and enjoy as compared to Synthesis the gameplay experience is unfortunately marred by how badly Legion is playing out on consoles. I mean Legion already has its fair share of technical issues on the PC but its even worse on the consoles...

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Chaplin1108 wrote:

Well on console it was better in so much that it wasn't as big of a bug and crash fest as Legion... For someone new to the series and coming into a second season the technical refinement of Legion from Synthesis was such a big let down, as it simply performed inferior with so many new bugs and sources of crashes introduced.

While I do find the Legion mechanic easier to digest and enjoy as compared to Synthesis the gameplay experience is unfortunately marred by how badly Legion is playing out on consoles. I mean Legion already has its fair share of technical issues on the PC but its even worse on the consoles...

That's not really what made me prefer synthesis though. It's that Legion hardly feels like new content. It's just a mass of enemies you run into in each map.

I've been saving all my emblems so I don't know much about that, but I loved how Synthesis's main content felt like a whole game in itself.

I love side content in games to pull you away from the main grind. Synthesis and Incursion are by far my favorite leagues I've gotten to play.

Edit: Followed by Breach domains. I've only done Xoph's, but those are so sweet.

The main take away from Synthesis is:

1. Simpler league mechanics are better (more desired).
2. First play impressions define a league. A super buggy league start wrecks it for the entire league even after bugs are worked out.
3. GGG is still not large enough to code/debug complicated mechanics with only 3 months of time.