Here is why "Melee" is ACTUALLY bad
|
I have played and tried out every single melee skill in the game
I will list some of the worst melee skills and explain why I think they are bad and how they could be fixed Most of it comes down to, too many skills being too similar to each other. GGG refusing to give numerical buffs. Limiting playstyle and mechanics too much, to the point that many melee skills see little to no usage. Here are just 4 skills I think could use some changes and how I would try to make them interesting and fun to use for melee players. #1 - Sunder
Spoiler
Why is it bad - It punishes you for investing in attack speed, it moves too slow, the AOE is too small, not that great in general. Better options exist because this doesn't fill a niche. Old sunder was great for being an AOE clearing skill and usable on many weapon types. Worst of all, you cannot have more than 1 wave of sunder... why? This limits it's playstyle and makes it extremely boring imo. How to fix it - (0-19)% more Area of Effect - > (10-29)% more Area of Effect Shockwaves deal 40% less Damage - > Shockwaves deal 20% less Damage Remove this part of the skill - "Using the skill again will stop the previous wave." Buffing the AOE, reducing the shockwave damage and removing the modifier that makes this skill garbage would make it a great melee skill. It would once again be used by many players as a fantastic big aoe clearing skill. #2 - Sweep
Spoiler
Why is it bad - It's not interesting at all, knocking back isn't that good since it doesn't work on bosses and doesn't really keep you safe either. It has no niche, it's literally Cleave but 360... woop de doo. Also sometimes it knocks enemies out of your melee range and if you sweep again you miss them and have to move closer. Making it feel very clunky and imo just a bad melee skill. How to fix it - Allow sweep to be used while moving Remove - Knocks Enemies Back on Hit Attack Speed: 70% of base - > 100% of base +(0-4) to radius - > +(4-8) to radius Buffing the attack speed, aoe, removing the random knockback effect, and allowing players to sweep while moving turns it into a mobile melee skill. Player should feel like they are able to jump around with a staff ( which should not be a slow melee weapon ) and cast sweep quickly. It's now got a different use compared to cleave or other melee skills. It's similar to cyclone but gives players more control and focuses on burst rather than continuous damage. #3 - Cleave
Spoiler
Why is it bad - Extremely outdated and boring melee skill. Doesn't feel strong or interesting at all as a melee skill. Serves no niche or purpose in POE beyond being a bad melee skill. However... it could easily be fixed and turned into something unique. Dual wielding isn't that great in POE anymore and feels forced onto this skill. Basically it's reave but worse in every way. How to fix it - Remove - When Dual Wielding, Deals 60% Damage from each Weapon combined Attack Speed: 80% of base - > 100% of base New modifier - Cannot be evaded New modifier - Grant 1 Rage on Melee Hit, no more than once every 0.4 seconds Removing that awkward dual wielding modifier, increase the attack speed of the skill making it feel smoother to use. Add a logical modifier that if you are cleaving something in 1 direction close to your player, that you cannot miss the target. Now players can come up with melee builds that don't need any accuracy. Also it's now thematic that as you are using cleave your character is becoming more ferocious and mad, gaining rage as you slice into your foes. These buffs would make Cleave a useable and interesting skill to build around. #4 - Lacerate
Spoiler
Why is it bad - The aoe is too small and feels clunky to use. Way too similar to cleave and the only interesting portion is that it has a shotgun spot in the middle. Not that interesting tbh. Forced use of blood and sand stance? Lame honestly, I could not enjoy using or playing with lacerate. Just felt like a worse Frost Blades and bleeding in general is shit. How to fix it - +(0-9) to radius - > +(11 - 20) to Radius Change - (50-88)% more Damage with Bleeding while in Blood Stance - > (150-200)% more Damage with Bleeding Change - 25% chance to cause Bleeding - > 50% chance to cause Bleeding Remove - 50% increased angle while in Sand Stance Now with bleed in it's current state, this skill might actually have some decent damage investing into bleed. It's now quite different from cleave or frost blades and allows players to get easy access to bleed chance and bleed damage on the skill itself. No forced sand/blood stance, which limits creativity and build creation. Increased range would make it feel much more satisfying and playable. It's now a viable bleeding melee skill. These are just some of the melee skills I think should be fixed/changed drastically and buffed.... POE can easily make every melee skill have a niche or feel like it's serving a different purpose. When you design skills and force players to use certain skills or buffs to activate something on the skill, it just feels bad. Simple attack speed buffs will make the skills feel better. If the skill is an AOE skill make AOE more accessible, if you're not going to do it on the passive tree then buff the weapons. Melee players shouldn't feel forced to invest in AOE, that's what Spell Casters do. In general many melee skills could use tweaks and buffs and it's up to GGG to do something or at least try to make them fun. If any of the skills ended up being too strong, oh well? Melee is now good for 1 league? Slight nerfs in the next league and buff the skills that see no use? Why is it so complicated to get changes like these? I've been asking for buffs to underused skills for years now. Oh well I guess GGG will continue to insult melee players by adding 1 random troll buff to melee each patch. If you don't believe me, go look over the history of patches we have had. There has almost always been 1 insignificant buff to melee and it's someone at GGG literally trolling melee players. GGG is way too afraid to give numerical buffs and changes to underused skills and imo it's killing the diversity of this game Last edited by Bloomania#2606 on Aug 6, 2023, 2:47:47 PM Last bumped on Aug 7, 2023, 2:10:29 AM
This thread has been automatically archived. Replies are disabled.
|
|
|
using melee spells while moving is a really nice idea.
Also just reverse the 3.15 patch where they nerfed all melee sup gems. |
|
|
I dont think you seen the teasers, every strike skill is boneshatter now, get ready to destroy the content
|
|
|
is really do agree on big buffs on all the melee gems. on paper melee numbers might scale late game but just overall you are never doing the on-paper DPS against dangerous AoE or Degen , or a Boss Slam
to my melee brothers hold your wallet until actual melee is addressed
lol |
|
" Well yes every single build style will have different pro's and con's Degen builds have a dps cap of 35 mill dot and require a ton of investment Melee should be great at aoe or single target with different melee builds filling different specs Melee bleed should be a viable build but currently it's not That's why it's up to GGG to balance these things so that melee can feel competitive and viable Last edited by Bloomania#2606 on Aug 7, 2023, 1:46:36 AM
|
|
" Imagine being able to sweep while moving and how good that would feel for melee I'm telling ya some mechanical changes on many melee skills with some numerical buffs would make a world of a difference |
|
|
I mean, I can answer why melee is bad in two words:
Damage projection. Individual enemies in PoE are so weak compared to the players' power level that the single most important thing for determining a skill's viability is how efficiently it can hit enemies, - be it by hitting more than one at a time, hitting enemies from long range, or maintaining damage uptime. Melee is bad (compared to non-melee options) in all three of these areas. Last edited by ARealLifeCaribbeanPirate#2605 on Aug 7, 2023, 1:51:05 AM
|
|
|
#1 Problem - Every melee build is totem build.
|
|
