A Diablo 2 vet's response to the 0.9.3 dev diary

Let me start with the obligatory information. I have only very recently gained access to the beta and am running a very low level character. My feedback should be taken with a grain of salt for the sheer fact that I'm not in the high levels that 0.9.3 deals with. However, I am a bit of a Diablo 2 veteran and a reformed ex-Blizzard fanboy. Hopefully, my opinion will click a little bit with other Diablo 2 fans that can no longer stand for Blizzard's strategy of monetizing everything, no matter the game.

A little about my character and intended playstyle. I am playing a Duelist with the intention of specing dexterity (primarily) and strength. Specifically, specing into dual-wield swords (yeah, I'm SOOOOO original).

http://www.pathofexile.com/news/2011-09-30/dev-diary-patch-0-9-3

Attributes are now important

I like the idea of giving the base stats more bonuses than just being able to equip items. As I was spending skill points, it felt an awful lot like the "other two stats" weren't doing anything. By the time my "main" stat was double the other two, I was pretty scared that it would be the end of me. I do find it unfortunate, though, that items now give base stats. This may seem contradictory (I want base stats to do something more...but not receive them on gear) but Diablo 2 added base stats through ye olde charms system. I would have much preferred charms or even the scrapped Diablo 3 talisman system, but I'm sure the developers put a lot of thought into this decision and that it didn't come easily. Still, I can't help but feel that base stats on gear is Diablo 3ifying Path of Exile a little. Overall, I would say I'm excited about this change.

Class identity is promoted

A good move to be sure. If I hadn't read the beta manifesto before starting the game, I would have been expressing concern that choosing classes currently feels more like choosing a cosmetic character. I'm glad the developers decided against making armor class specific. Overall, I'm excited for this change.

New passive skill tree layout with keystone passives

MORE passive skills? I LOVE this, but I'm sure it will turn off a lot of new players. I hope that a hand-holding system or community-created tutorials can help players that want to spec in certain flavors or optimally. To say the current skill tree is overwhelming for a player new to action RPGs would be quite the understatement. The current tree is about as confusing the Final Fantasy X's sphere grid, but without having party member in random spots. Stronger passives...Yeah, I like being stronger. Thanks. Currently, passive skills don't seem to do much, but I blame that on early level blues. The example of keystone passive does concern me, though. Dual-wielding two-handed weapons can end in disaster and the skill is in the strength tree. It makes me worry over whether or not my next character will require even more planning than the current skill tree requires (but I fancy myself a fairly careful guy). Overall, I'd say I'm satisfied with this change.

Much better monster difficulty, aided by monster auras

I really can't comment on this as I am such a low level. It seems to be a very good idea on the surface, but I've been having problems surviving at my low level. This makes me feel like I'm doing something VERY wrong (which I am, but more on that later). I am glad that the developers have chosen to listen to the crowd that craves difficulty, though. Simplifying difficulty should also, hopefully, make it easier for newer content to be implemented in the future. Overall, I'd say I'm satisfied with this change.

Single-target attacks are now meaningful

All I've found as a dex-heavy player are single target attacks and arrow attacks. I must be just a really low level. The only multi-hit skill gems I have are ice pulse (int) and cleave (str). Overall, I have no opinion on this change.

Combat equations do not care about level anymore and New damage mitigation equations

This may be the reason I suck so much at this game. I've been focusing on using str/dex-str armor (because I read that evasion sucks in the manifesto), but haven't been upgrading my armor every time I enter a new area. I did notice that armor was having rather disproportionate increases over zones, so hopefully 0.9.3 will smooth gear scaling out at lower levels. Overall, I am excited for these changes.

Simpler critical strike system and Changes to how accuracy is gained

A very smart move, in my opinion. Ratings do end up easier to balance down the road, but they also make it very difficult to gauge inflation of stats and understanding stats in general. Mitigation ties into this bit as well. It ALWAYS sucks to level up only to find you do LESS. Overall, I am very excited for these changes.

Support gems have greater impact and modified mana cost scaling

I haven't found any support gems yet, so I can't comment on this change; however, simplification is always good in my book. Overall, I have no opinion on this change.

Implicit mods on base weapons

Definitely adds flavor and a reason to spec into specific weapons. I'd be more impressed with interesting mods (like, for example, axes add a bleed effect on critical strike), but I can understand the logistics and balance issues such things would cause. Overall, I am satisfied with this change.

Made it far easier to get useful socket combinations on items

Again, I can't really comment on this change, having found no support gems. I am concerned, however, that two-handed weapons are going to have a (very small) chance at having so many linked slots. It makes that two-handed dual-wielding passive skill seem all the more overpowered. Overall, I am concerned over this change.

Moving some spell damage onto weapons

I play a Duelist, but I can definitely understand the need for players that spec into intelligence having other ways to increase their spell damage output. Overall, I have no opinion on this change.

PvP balance

I do not play PVP, so I have no opinion on this change.

Unique items with unique flavour and properties

I haven't found or used any unique items, but I admire this design philosophy. Overall, I am excited for this change.

New skills and support gems

New skills are always great. I hope we can see a low level dexterity based AoE skill gem in one of the patches. Maybe something like blink-strikes? Overall, I am satisfied with this change.

Changes to the experience system

I don't powerlevel, but I think this is a good way to keep players in line while they level. Overall, I am satisfied with this change.

New quests in Act Two and Quest reward revamp

Quests in general need to be more intuitive and there needs to be more of them in general. In going through the first Act, I felt like I was missing something VERY important when I was going through zones that didn't have quests. I believe the best format for this would be a main story quest in each zone and a side quest for every other zone. Traveling through the Act itself is fairly linear, but not knowing which zones have quests (unless you take a gander at the stickied map) is going to confuse and mistify new players. Overall, I am satisfied with these changes.

New Strength/Intelligence item series - sceptres

Considering the amount of armor that uses two stats, I'm actually surprised that this weapon class didn't already exist. Just one more gap filled and one less thing to be concerned over, I suppose. Overall, I have no opinion on this change.

Brand new ladder for competition

A very good move. Noone likes character wipes, but they are a necessity. While I can understand others' attachment to their characters, I simply plan on starting a new character when this patch is released. Overall, I am satisfied with this change.

Art changes to reduce visual chaos

I'm not going to lie. I've played a lot of Diablo 2. A LOT of Diablo 2. So much, in fact, that after one summer I got an eye condition I like to refer to as "Diablo-vision." Basically, I kept the map up at all times while playing. After playing, I would see the map in front of me for days no matter where I went or what I did. If you really want to reduce visual chaos, the map system NEEDS to be overhauled. It would probably be best to look at other MMOs' minimap systems. The current map has me afraid of playing for very long, lest I get POE-vision. Overall, I have no opinion of this change.

Expected timeline for 0.9.3

While it is rather disconcerting to see the patch pushed back from the tweet's "next week" prediction, I can't help but feel that this delay was necessary. All of these changes seem to have a lot of thought put behind them and the new skill tree can't be easy to produce. Moreover, the fact that the developers thought it was important to communicate these changes and the current timeframe for the patch has them earning my respect. Overall, I am very satisfied with this timeframe.

Overall, I am excited for this upcoming patch.

Just to respond to one minor part of your post, my first character also started out as a dual-wielder, though mine was a marauder. And it was a slog to kill stuff, which made some fights rather hard. I switched to 2-handing and started obliterating everything. So if you're finding the game difficult early on, try waiting until you've got more passives to support it before dual-wielding. I've played a few other characters since my first one, and Acts 1 & 2 on normal are pretty much cake with any other build I've tried.

Of course, knowing more about the system now, duelist would have been a much better choice for a dual-wielder than marauder was.

I'll give two-handing a shot, but I obviously don't expect anyone to respond to the full post. All of it is my opinion and most of it is just meant for the developers (if any of them feels like reading it). This game is NOT Diablo 2 or 3, I can understand that, but I'm naturally inclined to Diablo 2 for my taste in ARPGs.

Chris is obviously very busy but he does make a point to read every feedback post.

The delay of 0.9.3 was caused mostly because of the inclusion of the new passive tree. Originally, the plan was to implement the new passive tree in 0.9.4 because of how much time it would take. As Chris states in the dev diary they found it necessary to include the new tree with all the other changes in 0.9.3 instead.

The "Attributes are now important" part looks like a nerf to hybrids, will there be any compensation?

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dust7 wrote:

The "Attributes are now important" part looks like a nerf to hybrids, will there be any compensation?

Hybrids will be able to have two decent stats, as they get bonuses to both attributes they are made up of? Whereas specialized classes have one good attribute, and two kinna sucky ones? :P

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sterno wrote:

try waiting until you've got more passives to support it before dual-wielding.

It's not about passives. Dual wield is strictly inferior to 2h regardless (hopefully this will change in 9.3 :) )

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Stafir wrote:

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dust7 wrote:

The "Attributes are now important" part looks like a nerf to hybrids, will there be any compensation?

Hybrids will be able to have two decent stats, as they get bonuses to both attributes they are made up of? Whereas specialized classes have one good attribute, and two kinna sucky ones? :P

sure, but the sum of all overall statpoints is lower for hybrids.

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tpapp157 wrote:

Chris is obviously very busy but he does make a point to read every feedback post.

The delay of 0.9.3 was caused mostly because of the inclusion of the new passive tree. Originally, the plan was to implement the new passive tree in 0.9.4 because of how much time it would take. As Chris states in the dev diary they found it necessary to include the new tree with all the other changes in 0.9.3 instead.

Then they made a very smart choice. Most of the skill tree feedback is going to be useless until the new tree is in, and that's a pretty big part of the game.

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dust7 wrote:

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Stafir wrote:

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dust7 wrote:

The "Attributes are now important" part looks like a nerf to hybrids, will there be any compensation?

Hybrids will be able to have two decent stats, as they get bonuses to both attributes they are made up of? Whereas specialized classes have one good attribute, and two kinna sucky ones? :P

sure, but the sum of all overall statpoints is lower for hybrids.

The general hope is that it won't matter, as you'll be able to do things the other classes don't do. And that is qualify for combined powers much easier, such as my current witch who's trying to get a hold of enough dex to make multishot nice for her skills.

Hybrids are built for combining two parts of the tree and do it much bitter than any other class in the game. The compensation should be the fact that the hybrids are capable of making combinations of gems that no other class can pheasably make.

Sure a witch going nothing but int gets more points over the long course...but if you go nothing but int you wind up missing out on sweet bonuses in the other trees. Bonuses that may synergize enough to be worth it.


Basically we need to see the new passive trees, and see how things work before we complain about hybrids being too weak. Then once we can proove such a thing should we start to work with the development team to figure out a good way to fix this. Don't want to change too many things related to stats at once..need to see what the new status quo makes..and then we see how to fix it.