My suggestions for how Synthesis content could be improved and added to the base game

Personally, i really liked Synthesis after a few patches were out for it and it makes me really sad that we won't have any more content from it than the bossfights. I really would love to see it added back to the base game, so i wrote up a list of how i believe GGG can fix the biggest issues with it.


1. Decay should be slower.
This is so the content will be more available, but also to adjust for 3.9's difficulty changes.
I believe that doubling or tripling the time decay takes would be lenient, but that is exactly what it needs to be.
In it's last state lots of movement skills were not viable at all due to being unable to dash through the decay, and slower builds couldn't keep up with the decay. This was very polarizing as only builds that could speed through were able to do the higher difficulty memories. This could be likened to Alva's incursion balance, where they give you means to get more time.

It should also be easy to gauge your time left in the decay similar to Incursion. An indication of where the decay is going to be would also be a good quality of life change, as decay very often would feel unfair and out of control.
This could be done by increasing the crackling effect of the ground to show what will collapse, so it's way more predictive and doesn't catch the player off guard.

I made a really scuffed image edit to try to show how it could be done here: (Light crackling to show the area will collapse soon).
The action speed slow is also unfair against anyone who isn't using skills like flame dash. Auto-opening doors would be appreciated too, as builds that cannot go through often get slowed and occasionally stuck due to poor collisions.

TL;DR Slow the decay, add a timer. Let us see where decay is going before it's there. Adjust action speed slow and doors.

2. Increase the memory queue slot limit.
In Synthesis, people would place memories down randomly and in nodes solely to move them around later. That is just unintuitive and tedious. Increasing the limit would solve having to do this.
The current memory limit is comparable to a low hardcap for sulphite, which when you think about how you can scale the sulphite cap, store up master missions and use scarabs, Synthesis seems really strict. Changing this is especially important if synthesis memories appear rarely, as finding the specific layouts you need will take a while.

Currently the 10 memory limit makes it so you have to go place the memories often or they will be wasted, which gets in the way of mapping and other content which people may prefer to run first.
Like with the masters, you should be able to do content more when you want to. I recommend increasing the limit to 30 memories and making it so you have 3 pages, instead of the current singular page. I edited an image quickly to demonstrate:

TL;DR More memory slots available please! Don't force people into losing memories because they didn't do them right away!

3. Powercreep.
Synthesized items provide an extremely powerful boost to high-tier crafting potential. Some mods provide very powerful bonuses which should be adjusted, and this isn't even mentioning how powerful combining them with influence would be.

In addition, consider rebalancing how multiple-implicit synthesized items work, as they are very powerful. A way you could do this would be lowering the best possible tiers you can get if you have multiple implicits, or simply just limiting the implicits to 1-2.
Another idea is scrapping synthesizing implicits completely, and instead making it so you synthesize specific fractured rare modifiers so they take up a mod slot.

TL;DR Nerf/remove/change OP implicits. Consider changing multi-implicits. Consider changing from creating implicits to specific fractured mods.

4. The synthesizer should work similarly to how Annointing works.
It doesn't have to show the exact result, but it should show all the possible outcomes. (For balance's sake). It needs to be obvious which mods CAN roll, and their ranges.
The reason for this is that if you haven't done research, synthesizing gives really terrible items. People will feel cheated out of their items, which is even worse than just the bad synthesised item itself.
In addition, a help button (multiple, even) on the side that opens a help menu explaining how the synthesis mechanic works would be great in addition to the synthesizer UI.
Make sure the itemlevel is shown clearly as well. I edited an image to provide a UI concept which you can see here: (The line on the implicit tooltip "Originates from" refers to the fractured mod by the way, not the synthesised implicit. Also in case anyone is confused i want to clarify those mods aren't in the game, i just made them up.)

TL;DR Synthesis should be like anoints, but with POSSIBLE mods shown + itemlevel/base change. Synthesizer mechanics should be easily understood and available on tooltips.

5. Allow backtracking in the nexus.
Having a time constraint of a few minutes to re-enter the previous zones or have your strategy ruined (or even just instances failing) was awful.
It should work like it does in delve, allowing you to teleport to previously visited zones, without consuming memory charges (unless you reload the instance).
A reload memory button could also be added with this, or the ctrl-click instance functionality. Here's a concept for how it could be done, inspired by delve.

TL;DR Backtracking in memory cortex, preferably Delve-style!

6. Gate it behind maps.
Synthesis for low tier items is really bad, and difficult for those just getting into PoE. Adding a minimum itemlevel for fractured items dropping and putting them behind maps is important.
A possibility would be starting the Synthesis storyline after having fought the awakener (not requiring watchstones probably, so more players can access the content. As a bonus this makes the non-watchstoned awakener not feel like a waste too!).
At this point players have usually started to solidify their builds and have reached map tiers more fitting for Synthesis. This would also keep players from wasting their time on min-maxing with synthesis items too early in the mapping stage as well.
Another plus is that players who get past the Awakener are usually used to finding item mod info online, which helps for synthesizing items.
The Cavas questline could also be used to reintroduce the shaper/elder questline as "memories", given that the elderslayers exist.
Also, somewhat unrelated but a cool segway for intersecting PoE1 and PoE2 would be letting the players "relive" PoE1 through Cavas's memories.

TL;DR Low itemlevel fractured items suck. It's also bad for newer players since it requires time and investment on high tier maps. Consider gating Synthesis behind the Awakener (No watchstones needed), it would be a good "late-game" addition!

7. Synthesis rewards should be brought up to speed with newer league mechanic drops.
AKA Atlas Jewellery, Blight, Legion, Metamorph. Those league mechanics also drop some items such as incursion items which aren't on the synthesis drop table either!


I hope this was helpful in some way! I really would love to see more from Synthesis in PoE. I think people's experience with it was ruined because they didn't get properly into and couldn't find any sources that would explain the mechanics. I believe that as a lategame addition, Synthesis would be awesome and a really cool segway for other content. If people are introduced to the mechanics properly and the annoyances fixed, i believe it will be really popular!

I didn't really like Synthesis but I have to give you mad respect for your dedication and presentation.

I liked Synthesis but imo the full mechanic is simply too extensive to go core like it was (or like you suggested).

They should just make the boss distance memories and the cortex drop as special maps (it sucks that you can only get them from Zana currently). They should also be modifiable with orbs like regular maps so you can adjust the difficulty.

The crafting mechanic really doesn't have to return, either. There are so many ways to craft OP shit, we really don't need another...

+1

Honestly, I wouldn't even alter synthesis very much; it might be OP, but there's ways to do worse. The main difference is that those have higher barrier to entry, which I actually think is a bad thing; it's the reason there's such a vast gulf of difference between a decent build and a twinked-out meta slave, which hopelessly poisons the game balance.

Having a way for The Rest of Us to actually play the busted crafting game would be a good thing in my book.

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C4Guy wrote:

They should just make the boss distance memories and the cortex drop as special maps (it sucks that you can only get them from Zana currently).

That is completely false. Synthesis maps are now an item that can be dropped.

Just two days ago I looted two level 80 Synth. maps.

why do you need to defile this grave? synthesis is dead, let it be.
I also wish bestiary would be lying next to it.
Einhar is annoying. i hate chasing for stupid monsters.
I also hate metamorph for the exact same reason, have to clear the whole map and its tedious after the 10th time.

Yes you gain big profit from them but...nah...they are dumb designed.

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Ydoum wrote:

That is completely false. Synthesis maps are now an item that can be dropped.

Just two days ago I looted two level 80 Synth. maps.

Ok, that's good to know because in Blight it was Zana-only. I obviously haven't seen any of those drop yet in Metamorph, nor did Zana offer any. Why include them at all and then gate them behind such ridiculous rarity...

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Tolerantzdestr0yer wrote:

why do you need to defile this grave? synthesis is dead, let it be.
I also wish bestiary would be lying next to it.
Einhar is annoying. i hate chasing for stupid monsters.
I also hate metamorph for the exact same reason, have to clear the whole map and its tedious after the 10th time.

Yes you gain big profit from them but...nah...they are dumb designed.

If you only like the game when there's no reason to finish what you do in it, do you actually like the game?

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fazlez1 wrote:

I didn't really like Synthesis but I have to give you mad respect for your dedication and presentation.

Thank you!
I have to say personally that i too, didn't enjoy Synthesis at first. But with the flashback event, and proper time taken into understanding mechanics, it was a lot better.

I believe that it really can be good enough for core if GGG puts time into it. Though with PoE2 and next expansions around the corner i wonder if they will have time. Here's hoping, though!

I think they should remove the whole decaying mechanic

Boom league fixed, tedious problems removed, tons of bugs removed, playable content created

Idk why enforcing the decay is mandatory or perceived as a must-have to make synthesis fun

It wasn't fun dealing with the decay