Sure.
My being here or better yet, my purchasing this title is due to the fact that I have options to explore in terms of class builds. The less variables I have to explore and play around with, the faster my interest drops and the quicker I end up leaving the game.
When I can play a base class that is devoid of pre-determined build direction, I think to myself of how great the character advancement system is and, it honestly drives me to try out unconventional play-styles. I have never found appealing the one stat class affinity in most games out there (you know, Strength is for Warriors, INT is for Mages…etc).
… sorry for being this lengthy and starting this point from Adam and Eve
Now, after the above premise, since you know how I feel, imagine a play session as a Mage and suddenly your screen lights up.
Woah! You’ve just received a blessing from RNGeesus; a set item has dropped and you’re filled with excitement. You pick it up, quickly open your inventory and drive the mouse pointer over it to check the stats.
SURPRISE!
It has a tag that says “Lich set item” / “Requires Lich”!
or
Specific class effect modifiers for specific class skill. (If the number of set items is 10 overall, in a game and each class gets let’s say 2, then you can understand that with such a system you’d have only 2 Set item builds for each class - which to me is dumb and limited) This second case applies to the current game itemization but luckily we have alternatives with other/lower quality gear, but this cries out for a rarity validation check.
Similarly you have Idols with a tag restriction (another case that applies currently).
Ideally, in my opinion, for a free-build title that doesn’t niche classes into specific play-styles, itemization should be created only around the stats shown in the C panel and not for modifiers of skills. This way you’d avoid disappointing loot drops, in a smarter system that also avoids pointless screen clutter and promotes a free/creative/researched play-style.
I kinda agree with you, though not entirely. Firstly, the devs did recently add several more sets (there used to only be 2) so I’m sure they’ll add more as time goes on.
Secondly, I think that if there are a wide number of uniques that are designed to be either more general (eg, Exsanguious is a general ward item, not specific for a class or group of skills) or buff a group of skills (the large number of uniques that buff ignite) or change how a skill works (kinda, Hollow Finger gives you an additional skellie, Liath’s Signet gives you 100% glancing blow while channelling making gearing significantly easier for channelling builds), having sets that are more class/mastery focussed isn’t too bad.
Plus sets aren’t anywhere near as restrictive as they are in D3, which is a good thing since I think Blizz painted themselves into a corner with their implementation of sets. You know things are ****ed vis-a-vis itemisation if you have to put a bunch of zeroes on skill damage modifiers to make an item usable.
Lol! As usual you miss the point entirely! The issue is not the value as in number of sets, but the correlation with the number of builds; associated due to affixes, and correspondence to itemization. Meaning, even if the set numbers increase to 20, which will hardly happen in the near future, the amount of set items per class would equally be 4, thus possibly 4 builds max . And still, not necessarily 4 builds since more items may refer to a similar build by modding the same group of affixes)
Absolutely no!
Direct skill modifiers limit itemization and thus builds. Have already explained this, won’t go back! What uniques and set items need to refer to is damage effects like Ignite, Shock, Damage over Time etc… A Sentinel may not have a Lich’es spells/skills but they do share the same base stats and damage effects.
When you base your argument on the worst example just to say, at least we’re not bottom of the barrel, in a work in progress environment…well you lose my attention to a conversation completely.
Then perhaps your point wasn’t as clear as you thought it was, especially as you know that I see things differently to you.
Personally, D3 soured me on sets. I know D3’s implementation of sets was very poor in terms of improving itemisation & viable build variety.
I think it depends how many items there are. If there were several items that changed how skills work per skill, would that be bad especially if they occupied different item slots? Where should the line be drawn between skill modification on items & in the skills themselves?
I think just adding a load of damage/healing/etc to a skill would limit itemisation, but I’m not sure that unique affixes that changed how they worked would, especially since equipping a unique means limiting the number of important affixes that you otherwise need (protections, glancing blow, etc) limiting the amount of uniques you can get away with equipping.
Which is your prerogative but I’m not entirely sure that abandoning a conversation helps progress it.
I pray the obscene speed game play doesn’t become the standard. it looses the appeal pretty quick when only the fastest builds are great, and if you don’t chose that you become heavily gimped.
Ok, so you refer to freedom in a more common sense. I was comparing the situations pre and post patch and am of the opinion the patch did not reduce the freedom of builds.
The freedom of building classes like you are aiming for is way more than LE has to offer right now. And I am not sure if this is the goal.
Wolcen has a lot of freedom in his character building system. Which is nice in some terms. The drawback is that many things just feel all the same.
I don’t think a unique really feels unique when it only has this universal stats. This is something the yellow items already have.
But I think it doesn’t have to be only black and white. I like the idea of having that one awesome item that enables a build that otherwise wouldn’t be viable. This also adds build diversity.
For example the Spiggan belt. It’s exactly for this kind of build. Without it the build suffers (can only remain in Spriggan Form for a limited time). How you build your Spriggan is up to you. There are also various routes.
But I also like the idea of having items that buff certain mechanics of the game and so a versatile and nice to have for different classes.
I did state this above, that the rarity system needs a check, but then again everything is in a rough state so we have to work with what we got, even when hypothesizing.
As they are right now, uniques serve little purpose. Most of them are fluff anyway. Most of them prove a good package of extra stats early to mid game. If you truly want to progress, properly build and customize your character/ play style, then you craft your gear and end up using Yellow items.
So until Crafting keeps on being a better choice over rare items, uniques and up will be useless. (edited because poor wording and the forum police is watching)
Rarity therefore needs to be reworked somehow and be given a different value. Maybe itemization will change altogether…
At the moment, uniques are very niche, they can provide benefit to the builds that they support but are of minimal use to other builds. It doesn’t help that with the current uniques their support is very hit & miss, poison has 3 uniques (Plague Bearer’s Staff, Draalsting & Vipertail, plus a few that provide some poison protection) while ignite has ~7 (covering most gear slots), shock, bleed & freeze have ~3-4 each.
Personally I think a build using one or two uniques that buff/modify the skills or mechanics that is uses is fine & the rest of the gear is filled out with rares to fill out the defences.
This I don’t quite get. The easiest way to get a decent item (4x useful t4-5 affixes) is to take a drop with several of those affixes already there & craft it up to higher tiers. I’m not sure that’s a bad thing (unless you want to change to something like PoEs crafting where you can continue to craft on the base but without any control over what affixes you get).
This is poor wording on my part, due to doing several things at the same time.
We’re saying the same thing.
I wanted to say that Crafting is a better choice in terms of gearing up, over using rare items.
I’ll reword and accept that tango now.
