Inspired by a recent video of Boardman21, I have a question for the community regarding changing skills via nodes vs. changing skills via unique items and sets.
The tree of a skill is the straightforward way to change how the skill works. You can change the element, e.g. Detonating Arrow to cold damage. You can make a skill do more damage or turn it into a buff or debuff. You can change how it is applied, e.g. cast from your position or at the cursor. You decide how you want to use the skill and can do so from the very beginning. Your play style is not tied to any gear, your gear just enhances the play style that you chose by investing into nodes.
In some cases, certain play styles are enabled by gear. One example would be the new set that turns Meteor into lightning (see the linked video at the beginning), another one would be the quiver that turns Puncture into a cold ability. It is exciting when such an item drops, as it opens up more character build possibilities and can motivate you to try another build or character.
Then there is a third way: An item has the same effect as a skill node. For example, The Ashen Crown makes Elemental Nova be cast at the target location, which does the same thing as the Arcane Projection node of the skill tree. Or the amulet that lets you summon wolves up to the companion limit. This allows you to save some skill points that you can invest into other nodes, and allows you to get an effect without also getting its prerequisites, e.g. a non-fire nova that can be cast at the cursor.
Now comes the big question: Do you prefer any of those three? Do you want to be able to chose any play style without having to find a specific item? Or do you want items that enable (and are necessary for) completely new play styles? Or do you prefer the middle ground, where you can chose between the item and skill node?