Ward is Amazing

i see ward as a last level defense layer
because there are no nodes in the skilltree that give more ward
but the mechanic overall would be a little bit to strong if they'd decide to give nodes for that

It's in the game because a certain other game has it too.

And it's not in a good spot in PoE yet, imo. It's sort of just....there.

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Pizzarugi wrote:

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yamface wrote:

ward is pretty bad without that one flask that makes your ward never drop

I was gonna post and mention this. I don't see what's special about Ward that ES doesn't do. The only good thing it brings to the table is the straight up damage mitigation if you've got the unique flask.

"that one flask" is literally any iron flask. It's a base flask type. It's like saying life isn't any good unless you use a life flask. Okay so use a life flask. You benchcraft 'on savage hit' onto an iron flask that you craft with mods you like and that's your defense.

Additionally, Ward recharges instantly after 5 seconds. ES begins recharging after not being hit for 4 seconds and takes another 5 seconds to fully recharge, without being hit for 9 seconds. The only thing ES has going for it over Ward is that you can get ES leech and increases on the passives tree. And Faithguard changes ES% increases to Ward.

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Wladicorist1 wrote:

i see ward as a last level defense layer
because there are no nodes in the skilltree that give more ward
but the mechanic overall would be a little bit to strong if they'd decide to give nodes for that

Unless you're using block or aegis, it's more of a first defensive layer. Most hits on my character barely hit into my life because my 2k ward takes most of it, and I immediately have my ward back. There are no nodes for it because they introduced it this season and making passive skill tree changes is a lot more investment than adding some items and a new mechanic. I fully expect them to add ward nodes in the future.

Ward is good. It has two main problems, though:

1) The balance between avoidance (EV/Dodge) and Ward, because of all the slots you have to spend on Ward items.

2) Crafting Ward items, with influence and the like is a pain in the ass.

But when you're finally geared with three GOOD, influenced Ward items - suplemented by a Ward flask, Ward is pretty strong.

imo Ward is lowkey great for ranger since you don't get hit much, the right side of the tree has more limited access to life and ES nodes. It can also pressure your gearing to try and cram in ES affixes on top of everything else you need

runics have way lower INT reqs than Hubris Circlets and you can get 200-250+ Ward and 100+ life per slot while still having an open prefix for something else, compared to a hybrid slot's 50-75-ish or INT's 100-150, both of which you need three prefixes to reach, so it's a great way to build a buffer against oneshots without spreading your gearing or passives too much

I've been using it on my pathfinder with max block and even with just a runic crown and no iron flask I'm finding it really useful, oneshots during bossing were the main thing I was struggling with and runics feel like the missing piece of the puzzle for me

it's super niche, but feels great in the use cases it does have so here's hoping it stays in and hopefully gets some passive clusters and more items to support it

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ciel289 wrote:

if you can afford to run grace aura + blind on a dex dodge/spell dodge charr ward is freaking amazing
it really needs well rolled gear though life + life/ward + ward rolls on most items to make it shine

Are you sure? i run ward as dodge/evad with grace and blind with 1 slot for a ward item and i literally die left and right to any random thing sometimes

I seem to be getting hit to much maybe? i dont remember what it was like before i had the ward item on

Maybe my ward is just to low or the 5 seconds is to long (it is really you can be hit like 20 times in a second... IC is better then this lol)

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Lynerus wrote:

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ciel289 wrote:

if you can afford to run grace aura + blind on a dex dodge/spell dodge charr ward is freaking amazing
it really needs well rolled gear though life + life/ward + ward rolls on most items to make it shine

Are you sure? i run ward as dodge/evad with grace and blind with 1 slot for a ward item and i literally die left and right to any random thing sometimes

I seem to be getting hit to much maybe? i dont remember what it was like before i had the ward item on

Maybe my ward is just to low or the 5 seconds is to long (it is really you can be hit like 20 times in a second... IC is better then this lol)

The entire point of dodge/evasion builds is to NOT be hit 20 times per second. Even being hit once every 2 seconds means your items and/or build aren't good enough. Used correctly, Ward should overlap with Wind Dancing and mitigate damage from the occasional hit you don't avoid.

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ARealLifeCaribbeanPirate wrote:

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Lynerus wrote:

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ciel289 wrote:

if you can afford to run grace aura + blind on a dex dodge/spell dodge charr ward is freaking amazing
it really needs well rolled gear though life + life/ward + ward rolls on most items to make it shine

Are you sure? i run ward as dodge/evad with grace and blind with 1 slot for a ward item and i literally die left and right to any random thing sometimes

I seem to be getting hit to much maybe? i dont remember what it was like before i had the ward item on

Maybe my ward is just to low or the 5 seconds is to long (it is really you can be hit like 20 times in a second... IC is better then this lol)

The entire point of dodge/evasion builds is to NOT be hit 20 times per second. Even being hit once every 2 seconds means your items and/or build aren't good enough. Used correctly, Ward should overlap with Wind Dancing and mitigate damage from the occasional hit you don't avoid.

Wonder why i am to be getting hit so much then... i mean it feels like a lot to me anyways

I have 68%/67% dodge/spell and 48% evad with 13k evasion and like 31-33% phy reduction maybe i just need more dodge and evad lol

I've bought an Awakener's Orb and tried to produce a pair of Shaper-influenced Runic Sabatons and sadly it could not work in this way...

And the minority feature is rolls on runic gears are much less than common ones, say, you cannot roll mana/strength on these boots. This refines the affixes pool for rolls in life, movement and res etc.