Prior to 2.4 there was a lot of hype (much of it coming from Blizzard) about how this patch represented the biggest set rebalancing they had ever attempted.. I remained very skeptical that the vision of a much greater variety of viable groups when pushing GR's would eventuate, primarily because I felt the issue of balancing was (and is) inherent in the fundamental design of the game mechanics.
Nevertheless, I was hopeful that, within the limitations of the existing design, both classes and sets would come a lot closer together, meaning that even though I expected one or two configurations would prove superior to all others, the gap would be small enough that group variety (if put together in a complimentary fashion) would be an ideal whose time had finally come.
My initial impressions (as a DH player) was quite favorable. I found the set buffs to be quite strong, both in terms of damage potential and damage mitigation. It also appeared to me that most of the sets were now, to a greater or lesser extent, a lot closer together in terms of their overall potential.
It sure did not take long though for the Wizard twister build to demonstrate dps potential that was vastly higher than anything else in the game. On the one hand I was happy for my friends who favour this class, but on the other I was genuinely baffled that Blizzard somehow saw fit, yet again (keeping in mind they nerfed the hell out of static charge) to allow one build to be head and shoulders above any other.
I personally can't believe Blizzard actually intended this, in the same way i felt they never intended static charge to be so much stronger than anything else. With that in mind, I can't help but come to the conclusion that they lack the ability to properly understand the capabilities of their own builds.
While I remain genuinely grateful at how Bliz have continued to support; expand and enhance this game their continued apparent lack of ability to prevent 1 or 2 specific builds being so much stronger than everything else is very disappointing. The Hunter, for the 2nd patch running, is a DPS class without a home in group pushing. While the innovation of people like Wudijo have created an alternative solution by remolding the hunter into a support class, that is not really what I had in mind, and to be honest, it is hard to see this as a genuinely optimal choice when Monk/WD and Barb all offer such compelling support options (as a non wiz player I've created both a WD and Monk support for GR pushing and they both perform very well in that role).
At this stage, for yet another patch cycle (I'm on console) my hunter is relegated to solo pushing and farming. For GR pushing, the meta is locked in stone, and is essentially a lag fest dominated by a screen full of twisters and DOT, with supports spamming buff and debuff skills, while spawning bucket loads of health globes for the insatiable arcane needs of the dps wizard(s).
To be fair, my level of disappointment reflects my love of the game, and my desire that Blizzard would actually get it right, or at least get closer this time round.
honestly every time someone call for "balance" a spec get nerfed and we end up with less alternatives than before, dh turrets nerfed, monk wind nerfed, mage archon nerfed, ww barb nerfed ecc, every season got a good nerf bat dose and we that don't care to much about pushing grift are left with torn sader and stupid melee fart mage.
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Prior to 2.4 there was a lot of hype (much of it coming from Blizzard) about how this patch represented the biggest set rebalancing they had ever attempted.. I remained very skeptical that the vision of a much greater variety of viable groups when pushing GR's would eventuate, primarily because I felt the issue of balancing was (and is) inherent in the fundamental design of the game mechanics.
Nevertheless, I was hopeful that, within the limitations of the existing design, both classes and sets would come a lot closer together, meaning that even though I expected one or two configurations would prove superior to all others, the gap would be small enough that group variety (if put together in a complimentary fashion) would be an ideal whose time had finally come.
My initial impressions (as a DH player) was quite favorable. I found the set buffs to be quite strong, both in terms of damage potential and damage mitigation. It also appeared to me that most of the sets were now, to a greater or lesser extent, a lot closer together in terms of their overall potential.
It sure did not take long though for the Wizard twister build to demonstrate dps potential that was vastly higher than anything else in the game. On the one hand I was happy for my friends who favour this class, but on the other I was genuinely baffled that Blizzard somehow saw fit, yet again (keeping in mind they nerfed the hell out of static charge) to allow one build to be head and shoulders above any other.
I personally can't believe Blizzard actually intended this, in the same way i felt they never intended static charge to be so much stronger than anything else. With that in mind, I can't help but come to the conclusion that they lack the ability to properly understand the capabilities of their own builds.
While I remain genuinely grateful at how Bliz have continued to support; expand and enhance this game their continued apparent lack of ability to prevent 1 or 2 specific builds being so much stronger than everything else is very disappointing. The Hunter, for the 2nd patch running, is a DPS class without a home in group pushing. While the innovation of people like Wudijo have created an alternative solution by remolding the hunter into a support class, that is not really what I had in mind, and to be honest, it is hard to see this as a genuinely optimal choice when Monk/WD and Barb all offer such compelling support options (as a non wiz player I've created both a WD and Monk support for GR pushing and they both perform very well in that role).
At this stage, for yet another patch cycle (I'm on console) my hunter is relegated to solo pushing and farming. For GR pushing, the meta is locked in stone, and is essentially a lag fest dominated by a screen full of twisters and DOT, with supports spamming buff and debuff skills, while spawning bucket loads of health globes for the insatiable arcane needs of the dps wizard(s).
To be fair, my level of disappointment reflects my love of the game, and my desire that Blizzard would actually get it right, or at least get closer this time round.
honestly every time someone call for "balance" a spec get nerfed and we end up with less alternatives than before, dh turrets nerfed, monk wind nerfed, mage archon nerfed, ww barb nerfed ecc, every season got a good nerf bat dose and we that don't care to much about pushing grift are left with torn sader and stupid melee fart mage.