All looking good to me.
As for the smart loot system I assume you going for something like 50% class 50% other classes. (numbers to be adjusted so things feel right). That is you will find a decent amount of items for current class while still getting a reasonable amount of stuff for the others.
Mostly good changes so far!!!
We want new patch…
we want new patch…
we want … 
Why stop at 8 per class ? 
more more more
There were multiple statement saying the patch is coming at the end of this month, so if there are no delays i guess by the end of the week is very realistic(EHG already released altot of patches before a WE, so Maybe Thrusday or Friday, but i guess we will find out soon.
I threw money at my screen.
That’s better than the alternative. cough
And this is why I’m not in a customer-facing job…
It’s more heavily weighted towards getting your own class gear at the moment but it is a really easy dial for us to turn and we will be adjusting it in response to feedback.
Edit: also I might have read it wrong but I think you might have misunderstood me llama8. Exanguinous isn’t class locked.
Well, that was just a (popular) example, the concept stands, that of concern about unique body armour being locked to specific classes (when historically they’ve been usable/viable for other classes). Sarno made a fair point about there may be other uniques created to take their place. But we’ll need to see what’s changed in any event, it may be a non-issue.
Yea for sure, I know very few items have been converted to a new base type.
It’s stated that items mainly drop for the class you actually play. There will also be drops of items from other classes, but not that much. I see nothing wrong with that as you will want to progress with the char you play. In the end you will definitely find more stuff you can actually use than it is today.
It’s frustrating when an item drops with nice affixes but it’s the wrong base. This wont happen that often rng for finding desired gear will be (feeling) better.
And as Mike said they can tweak it easily in every direction.
There are currently 8 base chests and 7 base helmets, so rng on base types will be about the same (assuming you’re targeting one specific base). Fortunately, loot filters will fix this problem
The issues I see with the current class trees are:
I’m not sure the change to the trees improve any of those issues.
The change intends to correct the issue of the double unlocking. But I believe this issue is mainly the fact that it’s not explicit enough that the game have actually 7 trees per class and that we have access to 5 of them:
The change will only fuse the 1st and 2nd unlock.
It will reduce some confusion as on the 1st unlock, when players think they are specializing, they will now actually be specializing.
But it won’t fix the main issue that players don’t understand that each advanced tree is in fact 2 trees and they unlock the first of each specialization AND the second of the specialization they choose.
(I’m not saying people never understand that, but that many don’t understand it directly – hence the confusion when unlocking the specialization trees doesn’t mean unlocking the specialization – as the game does not make that really explicit.)
Moreover, having a first tree that is small and the other trees that look small because most of them are hidden by default doesn’t help understanding them.
I would either:
(The skills to unlock on the base tree are not an issue if the base tree is removed as they can simply be unlocked with level as many skills are currently.)
Those are both options we considered and are still on the table. We’ll be paying close attention to how the new version feels so our ears are open.
From the sound of it, the change is only supposed to bring the timing of when you get the mastery into line with when you can put points into it. I think your other points are very pertinent though.
All these nice update posts, but here I am - mostly hyped over the reduced game file size coming this patch.
For me, the smart loot system is divorced from the class-specific items. I’m okay with smart loot because I like the idea that the majority of loot I find is potentially usable by that character. That feels good. I think the % of non-usable loot should probably be around 20-25% as opposed to 5-10%, for example. Those are implementation details. It basically means you’re incentivized to hunt for loot with the character who’s going to use it and twinking is more limited. Fine by me.
I’m less pleased with the glut of class-specific items. I like how D3 handled class-specific items. Most sets are class-locked but a few (1 or 2 per class, hehe) are not. Every class has 1 or 2 armor pieces and 1 or 2 weapon types that are class-specific. Everything else is wide open for use. Some uniques are tailored for certain classes and skills, but they’re equippable by anyone. I like this system. It’s flexible while retaining class-defining items that (can) matter. I can swap a cool unique armor from my necro to my witch doctor to my sorcerer but my WD and sorc can’t use that cool offhand phylactery my necro found. Limited in a few ways, otherwise mostly open and flexible.
I’m also on the side of disliking “smart loot”. In the short term it feels more rewarding, but it also diminishes some of the most compelling reasons to keep playing a game. When I find a rare item for another class, that’s my biggest motivation to experiment with more characters or to engage with the community to trade. Smart loot has the exact opposite effect for me where it discourages community engagement and takes away those “ah ha” moments where you get a crazy idea for the next character to make.
I like the changes overall.
As others have said, I am a bit concerned at smart loot. I have toons build for certain purposes. When Im on a Monolith farming toon, Im not neccessarily farming for the class Im playing, Im just farming.
With the idea of there being several end game systems in place once Phase 4 is complete, Id much rather build certain toons for certain challenges, not have to focus on each class to farm for that class only. Thats already the case a bit with Relics a bit.
Overall the changes definitely show youre looking to work on your game. Thank you for all the effort!!! <3
Sounds like it.
I wouldn’t compare it to Diablo 3’s Smart Loot System. In Case of Diablo 3 it was like almost every Item is usable for every Class, but when it drops the Stats it rolls focus on your Class. Means if you have a strenght class, even if the Item itself was meant to be focused on Mages (which uses primarly int) than it gets rolled Strenght stats. And TBH i found that kind of lacklaster, because it killed the “trading gear” with friends or your alts / twinks, even if you were able to roll a new stats on it via mystic.
However this sounds more like tackling a Issue which many players have if they ever played a ARPG over a long period. You might know it as well, you start as example as Druid, get some really nice and nifty gear, but oh wait, it’s for a different class which you don’t play. Sucks. In the end if you play with a Friend it often feels like your “luck” drops stuff for each other, but never for yourself. And it seems like this System focus on giving more loot towards what you play, instead completly random throwing stuff at you which you don’t need.
I also don’t see your Point about Meta Classes. If such a thing which exist (and i’m sure it will exist, because it’s nearly impossiblle to balance something homogeneous… so even if the “Balance” is pretty close to each other, the most effective ones will still be picked as Meta) in LE, it will picked either way. I don’t see how this Loot-System emphasis that. I’d even go as far, and argue the other direction, a System like this can counter Meta Gaming a bit, because in my Experience one of the Reasons why many Players, especially Casuals, play Meta, isn’t because it’s the strongest and most effectives build, but rather because for non-meta build it often takes a lot a luck and grind, because you need to get specific gear to be strong & effective with it… which can be frustrating if you get a lot of stuff for other classes (esp. for meta classes). So if you get more Gear towards your class, it kinda lessens the neccessity of luck & grinding and it’s easier to build with non-meta classes.
I mean don’t misunderstand me in that regard, i’m also unsure how i should find this Loot Idea, because i’m more the guy which enjoy’s overall to get Loot as randomly as possible, because it encourages you to play new builds and classes because you find good loot for it even if you don’t play them. But i don’t think it will have affect Meta Gaming that much. And the concept have definitely it’s pro and cons.
I trust you on this. Can’t wait for it though !
Overall i agree with those changes, even if that means that some uniques become class specified (which reduces the diversity). If they are handled correctly they might improve the variety of builds on its on “class”.
That’s why i think that the class specific affixes are welcome.
I thought about it earlier, what if we could have +1 level of a certain skill, or something like in grim dawn (33% of Meteor damage is converted to poison) that would change the way we consider using skills and equipment.
Finally, I’m afraid that the number of affixes in the game might be too high for only 4 spots available on each item. But maybe the legendaries might change that.