As we all know, every skill has 5 runes that can be applied to it, changing its mechanic. The design concept is to allow for a huge build diversity, which is very far from what is really happening in the game, especially late game.
The idea behind this thread is to help Blizz improve the rune system by suggesting variations or even new runes to complement the ones we have, by opening a place to collect all the suggestions we can think of.
Not to disencourage discussion, but please refrain from commenting on the viability or "fun" of other peoples suggestion. Something may seem (and be) totally impossible to implement, yet it may spring someone else´s mind into action... Let’s stay positive! If you don’t agree with someone, just make a better suggestion!
I have played every class to 60 (except barb), but I am a Monk at heart. Mobility? Speed? Damage? COMBOS?? Sign me up!!
I would like to see the monk play and feel like a martial arts expert, whereas right now it´s more about spamming damage buffs, getting SW up and then hold down left click, with the occasional mantra re-cast.
So… Since almost all monks use Fist of Thunder – Thunderclap for the teleport, I suggest making the teleport a part of the skill, regardless of rune choice. Then all five runes become useable…
First rune could have a chance to freeze on hit. (Decreasing with every hit, since last punch is big AOE)
Second rune could have an increased AOE on landing the teleport.
Third rune could have a bonus to spirit regen.
Fourth could have a reduced damage received for x seconds on landing the teleport.
Fifth could change the damage to fire with a burn effect on secondary targets.
What I am trying to get to here, is that once you make teleport a given, suddenly all runes are viable options, even though one will eventually be THE most efficient for dps.
The reasons are two: It´s static, meaning I have to be still to use it, and that it knocks enemies away from me (except for last 2 runes)
What I would like for LTK is to add a combo effect to it, like most generators. So instead of just one kick, make it three, where only the third one has knockback. Maybe starting a new build type like the kicksin from D2
First rune could add a small forward jump (think liu kang flying kick), allowing for more mobility but at a spirit cost.
Second rune could have a chance to immobilize / blind
Third rune could greatly increase attack speed when kicking and maybe add a small Chun-Li style of multi kick on the third strike.
Fourth rune could remove the spirit cost or greatly reduce it (making it a build basic)
Fifth rune could add an extra DAM% with every successive kick.
In all rune combinations it would be very important to make the skill non-static, meaning that the monk will move towards the enemy (if need be) with every successive kick.
This skill is mad cool, but the runes lack variation on effects… It´s more bleed damage, or more time, a little rooting, etc… Only essence burn could be considered a mechanics changer, all other runes feel more or less the same. The other thing is that EP only shines if the target dies, making it cumbersome to use. (yes, practice makes perfect, but it can be improved)
So how about this… Once EP is applied to target, it receives the bleed damage and then a burst dps for x% of the targets life, regardless of target death. Only if the target dies during EP will the burst dps be spread to the surrounding enemies.
This way you have a guaranteed effect for the spirit spent, yet you still require skill and planning to make full use of the ability.
First rune could teleport you to the targets destination with a small AOE stun on nearby enemies. (cast EP, kite a bit, then jump back into the action)
Second rune could remove the bleed on target and apply it to surrounding enemies. (burst stays the same)
Third rune could be spirit regen as long as EP is active on a target. (as if you were leeching the spirit from your foes)
Fourth rune could make the target fight for you whilst still being under the effects of EP.
Fifth rune could make the burst DPS depend on the distance traveled by the creature after activation of EP. (This would encourage monks to move instead of staying in one place holding left click). Example: Base burst is 15% of target full HP, and then you get a multiplier for every yard traveled by monster up to a max of 4 yards and 4 x 15% = 60%
In all honesty I have no love for this skill, mainly because it is stationary and it is cast on your location. If you decide to cast it, you must be in that place, else it´s wasted spirit.
So, aside from making it castable on mouse location… How about giving it hit points instead of a timer? Instead of it lasting 5 seconds, make it share the players HP and armor, then monsters need to hit it to bring it down (which they will, given it doesn’t regen life, block, dodge, etc). This could result in monks gearing for this skill, getting as much vit and armor as possible in their gear… A new build has emerged!
First rune could be a life regen bonus like it is now, but something meaningful, worth taking over breath of heaven!
Second rune could give the Sanctuary a thorns effect, essentially turning it into an offensive-defensive skill, plus an explotion once the shield falls equal to a % of the damage it received.
Third rune could grant a chance that the monster will be blinded after hitting the shield, giving the char a chance to escape or do hit and run tactics. Maybe 100% blind on critical hits?
Fourth rune could allow monsters to enter the Sanctuary, but take x% of the players dps for every second thay stay in it.
Fifth rune could act as a teleport and would require the player to be able to cast 2 Sanctuarys that become “linked”. If the player or any ally walks into one of the portals it is immediately teleported to the other one. (skill lasts for 5 seconds after second portal is open) - To avoid exploiting this in HC, monsters should be teleported as well, making for some insane game mechanics!
I agree that most runes have to be realigned so that they give more "sideways" options. I main monk so for now I can't really suggest on none other than monk skills.
Fists of Thunder
Put the short dash on the base skill and remove the mini knockback.
Static Charge - This rune should be changed
Quickening - This rune should be changed. Somehow I feel it undermines the other spirit gen runes of other spirit gen skills because of FoT's innatey high IAS. I also believe that the critical hit requirement is unfair since Monks do not have any built in critchance skills unlike other classes.
Bounding Light - Remove the requirement that the 3rd hit needs to connect for the chain lightning to come out. This will make it into a mid-ranged skill. Buff the chain lightning damage
Lashing Tail Kick
I use LTK's knock back as crowd control but the fact that FoT already has knockback, LTK is near useless.
They should make the knockback into what FoT has right now. Move the full knockback to the Sweeping Armada rune. (like cacerola) give a rune if not the base skill a bit of movement.
Vulture Claw Kick - Increase the AoE and cause hit enemies to burn
Sweeping Armada - Put full knockback of original LTK here and have the it deflect projectiles
Spinning Flame Kick - The pillar will hit multiple times when lined properly because of the weakened knockback
Hand of Ytar - This skill should be changed. It's too cost restrictive and the slow effect is too weak. Though I like the buddihst palm effect, it's aesthetically wrong due to the base skill being a kick.
Deadly Reach
I think the range of this skill is close to meaningless since only the third hit really has true range and by that the time you reach it, your enemies are already next to you. The only true benefit is that the skill pierces walls. The second attack should instead be made to extend to 20~something yards and the third becomes an actual projectile that extends even further.
Piercing Trident - The 3rd attack creates 3 projectiles instead of 1 each dealing 35% dmg. If the enemy is close enough all 3 projectiles will hit
Keen Eye - This rune should be moved to Way of the Hundred Fists instead since it is the spirit gen skill that leaves you most vulnerable. Buff duration should be increased
Scattered Blows - This rune should be changed
Strike from Beyond - Same as FoT Quickening
Foresight - Buff duration shouldn't be that long. If it's that long it tells you not to use it.
This is one of my favorites, and possibly one of the coolest looking skills in the game. It is also one of the skills that has the best runes, I mean... I have used all of them to great effect. Yet the mechanics of it can be improved.
My main beef with SSS is that it´s sloppy, which is contrary to everything the monk stands for. And it is sloppy because you lose control over your character.
When you cast SSS on a single enemy it acts the way it should, bombarding the poor creature from every possible angle, making you feel powerful, fast, effective! But... As soon as other enemies appear on range, SSS "wastes" its precious hits on them.
This is why almost every Monk that uses SSS goes for fulminating onslaught... It is the only way of damaging groups effectively because you distribute damage evenly (even though you just wanted to blast the boss in the middle)
So... How about giving the player control over the character when SSS is casted? Something like a really fast and short burst of whirlwind! The starting point of the skill is always on the char location, but you get to choose where you end up and how you get there. (except for the sudden assault rune which teleports to target)
SSS should try to hit all enemies within a very small radius centered on the mouse cursor. If the mouse is not moved, then all hits will land on the closest creatures to the cursor, but if moved, then SSS will try to follow the path described hitting all mobs in its way until the 7 hits are spent. This would all happen very fast, therefore requiring a certain lvl of skill to pull perfectly.
What you get from this is a skill that allows for a much deeper experience! ... Say for example you are surrounded by 50 enemies you wish to get away from. You cast SSS, and draw a straight line going away from the group. The char should bounce from enemy to enemy following the line until it has used all of the hits available.
With this same mechanic, leaving the mouse over the center of the group (maybe a champion) would result in the skill we have today, where all hits are grouped in a certain place.
Offensively one could use SSS to reach the centre of a pack much quicker... Same scenario, but you are outside the pack and there is a goblin in the middle of it. You cast SSS then draw a line to the gob... You get the picture.
All runes could remain the same as long as I´m concerned, they would work great with this idea!
your not addressing the fundamental issues.The nature of the rune system so im not really interested, its great that you have specific critiques or suggested improvements for the monks skills, But if you observe the forums you'll notice that most people are interested in critiques of the fundamental systems and suggested resolutions rather than small changes which can be made to particular skills.
Loved the part when you create a new account to support your own thread :P.
I'm not really sure how to convince you that I'm not Cacerola through this internet we have. I used the button format before he did though. Of course, these statements hold if the quote does mean what I think it means otherwise I'm just an idiot for thinking it meant what I think it meant.
Moving on...
I find nothing wrong with the fundamentals of the skill system. Picking runes is no different than selecting skills you want on the skill tree. I have to admit that it is elementary and not as exciting as opening a path in a skill tree but the point is the same.
What I find really wrong is the design of the individual base skills/runes. Sometimes I'd like to see radical visual changes to a skill when I put on a rune, just not too much that it would break my graphics card. There is always a defining one or two runes in a skill that outtrumps all your other rune choices and it brings us back down to the old "lack of build diversity". Everyone goes for the optimal dps rune because all the other runes don't deliver in the same way.
just scratch the game and start over or add another skill system more like the original d2 than then further modified the spells
I have no issues with the skill system, and definately dont think D2s was better.
The best way to describe it is, in order for you to know what spells you like you need to be able to try them. So any systemt that forces you to choose a spell, be locked into it, before ever even using it is not fun to me.....at all. Even if you can reset them, it's an annoyance to try something, see it fails, then jump through hoops to try something else. D2 was a great system for it's time. Games have evolved since then, and that type of system is obsolete now.
I like experimenting, I like switching out skills and trying new things, I like the whole spell system. Obviously they need to make some runes better, or nerf others. But that would be true if they had a D2 system as well.
Besides, this is a topic to dsicuss solutions, not just say "it sucks, throw it away" then not offer suggestions.
Unless you consider "make it like D2" a suggestion......but I don't because we've heard that 1000 times, yet very few people actually explain why it was better, or give any real suggestions to adjust the D3 system to be more in line with D2s and why it would be better.
@Indimix If you read KalikooJack´s reply, where he quotes my original post, you´ll see that my format was nonexistent and very confusing to read. After reading Inkcheese´s post I edited for better understanding, copying his format. Sorry for the confusion =)
@Zera , Zagathiest and zeroRooter: When D2 came out I hated the skill system! I was in love with the way Diablo 1 handled skills, where you had to find books in order to get spells and lvl them... I mean, how cool was it to cast firewall as a warrior! How cool was it to not know what you could achieve if you only kept on exploring the next library?
It fitted the game, the lore, and made the dungeons interesting to explore...!
So when D2 came out and all skills were presented to you from the get go, most of the magic disapeared for me... From lvl 1 you already knew everything your character was going to be able to do, no more discovering new abilities and spells.
Back in the day I posted on the D2 forums at planetdiablo.com (always constructively) asking not for a return to the old system, but a fusion of both worlds... A skilltree system that would give each character class its own distinct feel and style, plus a "loot" based system with skills and spells attainable to all characters by exploring, much like the one in D1.
I am not a fanboy, I HATE the AH, never mind the RMAH... I preferred the aesthetics of D2, the skill system of D1, the music, the story... You name it!
That being said, I am a realist... And I know that a new skill system (if it ever comes) will only be a posibility upon expansion. And Blizz wont make an expansion only for the skills, it´ll have new items, enemies, skills, classes, story, cinematics, music... That is going to take years of development!
Until that time comes I am willing to try and improve what we have because I love this franchise and I feel it´s hurting.
Back to positive mode, lets do some wizard skills to try and please zeroRooter…
My favorite sorc spell from D2 was charged bolt!! In early lvls, it was kinda weak for the mana it consumed because of the nature of it´s randomness. Sometimes all of the bolts would connect and it was awesome, but it was at higher lvls, with 10+ bolts that it started to shine and become more predictable.
So… For me, shock pulse is the retarded cousin of charged bolt. It never scales beyond 3 bolts and they travel just a couple of steps from caster, making it only usable at melee range. Ranged class…? Anyone? We have spectral blade for a melee wiz, no need for another skill.
What I suggest is to make it scale with character lvl, maybe add a bolt every 3 lvls for a total of 20 bolts on clvl 60 and increase the distance traveled by the bolts to half a screen minimum. At low char lvl the skill will work like we know it today except bolts will travel further, and it will increase its usefulness as the character progresses and the randomness becomes les important with the addition of extra bolts.
First rune could split the bolts in 2 smaller ones that deal less damage each. So at clvl9 (when you get the first rune) you´d shoot 6 bolts wich would split to 12 smaller ones, and by clvl 60 you would be blasting a stream of 40 bolts.
Second rune could be the explotion rune that grants a small AOE upon kill. That one is cool.
Third rune could grant the bolts a chance to paralyze (stackable with the paralyze passive)
Fourth rune could merge all the bolts into one “bolt-bomb” similar to the piercing orb effect with the difference that instead of piercing through enemies, this “bolt-bomb” would explode on impact, releasing all the bolts at once.
Fifth rune could slow the movement of the bolts to a crawl, allowing the player to cast repeatedly, essentially creating a mantle of bolts suspended infront of him, advancing really slow. This would turn the skill into a sort of trap skill, where you cast it several times and then lure enemies into the “deathzone”
Very cool topic. Cacerola, I think we could have a good time chatting about monks.
I'm also an avid monk fan, and I really wish that class would be suped up a bit.
Anyway, I've sat and looked at pretty much every skill they have and thought of ways to improve them, but here are a few of the ones I like.
Absolutely agree with FoT needing the teleport on the base skill, and the need for combo style spenders. For a martial arts expert, it's pretty sad that the only direct instant, spammable offensive spenders is this:
- An very underwhelming spin kick that has more elements putting you at a disatvantage than anything else
- A massive bell (kinda lame lol) that's just way too expensive and also underwhelming.
- Exploding Palm, which is a great concept, but need much more rune variation
- Cyclone Strike (Does ANYONE use this??) Nuff said
- Dashing strike, no matter how much you enjoy it, it gets outclassed by FoT thunderclap in every way.
Thats it.. Breaks my heart.
So the Monk definitley need work. Here are some ideas, in no real order or priority.
- Cyclone Strike - I think there are several ways this spell can be reworked. Currently it's just laughably expensive, does no damage, and has a pretty "meh" effect. I say, Increase the base AoE, boost the damage x2 or x3, and a built in slow, but give it a 10-15 sec cooldown. Because who would spam a spell like this anyway? You only need to bring everyone on screen next to you that often. Just imagine that spell combined with SSS fulmanating Stirke. Insanely awesomke.
- Dashing Strike - I think this spell could use inspiration from Wave of light. I'd love if this damaged all enemies in a path (and at least 180% wd) , and I'd be absolutely fine with having it's cost increased by quite a bit (to avoid mobility abuse) for that. Plus you could get really creative with runes then, like a variant that leaves a trail of fire behind as well.
- Mantra of Retribution - Honestly the worst skill in the game. Of all classes. Ever. I'd have prefered for this skills base being more like Mantra of Evasion - Backlash (backlash itself shouldnt need to change). The idea with MoR is that attacks from enemies (or whatever) actually trigger real retribution, or counter attacks, based on your weapon damage. Re-casting could actually cause a little damaging nova. And that would also make room for a lot of awesome runes. I love backlash, (so much so that it would be better as a mantra on it's own) and would always use it if overawe wasn't so OP.
- Mantra of Healing - Not lame in concept, but lets be honest, fixed numbers suck. And percentages would work better, but still be boring. I think something that gives like 0.2% regen per enemy within 30 yard range, and 30% of your armor by default, that goes down to 10% of your armor, depending on enemies within that range. In other words, A lot of enemies means high hp regen, very little armor bonus, and a boss or a single elite pack will mean low hp regen, but high armor boost. Something like that.
All in all the monk is the only class in desperate need of MORE skills. Offensive spenders. Most other classes can get away with reworks and tweaks, but the monk simply has too few of those kinds of spells to work with.
Good!, see?, when you change the dots for the "-", it seems like you are not the same guy.
(btw, Zarakumite is the tittle of the poster, not the name)
Haha Sorry, I'm a total noob. Why is this thread so quiet? Sure there's a lot of D3 suggestion threads, but this one is awesome because it's so much more spesific! Gogogogo
Another one of those spells that sounds mad cool, only to end up being lack luster at best.
RoF is essentially a disintegrate that has no pierce… So why would anyone occupy a precious slot with it? Why would anyone use a single target skill in a game that’s based around slaying thousands of enemies per run? Oh right! Nobody uses it.
So… Before we even discuss runes we have to address the core mechanics of this skill. Given that drops from bosses are so lame, there is really no reason behind single target dps regardless of how hard the skill hits, so I feel like it needs some form of AOE.
What I suggest is that in its un-runed form, ray of frost should have a AOE effect upon impact, slowing and damaging al enemies within a small radius plus a chance to freeze. (since disintegrate with temporal flux already pierces AND slows)
First rune could grant a 100% chance to freeze the target for x seconds (remember enemy resistance to CC effects grows over time so this wont be OP)
Second rune could make it so that if target dies whilst being hit by RoF it explodes in a sort of frost nova that damages and slows enemies.
Third rune could make RoF bounce from enemy to enemy, kind of like a chain lightning of frost only that you have to channel it (keep the button pressed)
Fourth rune could transform RoF into a sort of frozen orb that explodes on impact (cooldown might be needed for this, or extra arcane cost)
Fifth rune could make RoF single target dps again, but make it deliver insane damage, say 300% dps or more.
By writing this I realize that many of these runes would make frost nova kind of pointless (fourth rune is a castable frost nova) so… here comes the new nova.
My first lvl 99 character in D2 was a nova sorc designed to mow down the cow lvl, and boy was it fun! Teleport into a mass of angry bovines and spam nova so fast that everything was dead before the first creature hit the ground. (waaaaay before windforce poison zons)
Back in the day, nova had no cooldown, but it costed gobs of mana, and since it was electric damage and didn’t freeze, you had to be carefull not to get surrounded, or you were a dead sorcie!
I suggest bringing the old nova back, being the base damage physical with a chance to knockback targets. No cooldown.
First rune could change damage type to electric and a high chance of stun.
Second rune could be fire with chance to burn nearby enemies. (not the ones hit by the nova, those further away, spreading like rabies from druid)
Third rune could be arcane based with a chance of enemies exploding if killed by nova.
Fourth rune could be frost based, working like the skill we have now, but with a chance to freeze, not guaranteed.
Fifth rune could be physical again, with increased dps and knockback chance.
No… No poison nova. IMHO poison has nothing to do in a wizard and should be a damage type reserved to DH and WD.
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That being said… I believe that cooldowns have little meaning for a Wizard in a ARPG (except for skills like archon). I mean… You are THE ONE, you are NEO, you are the manifestation of destiny! How can you be stuck waiting for a skill to be available??
Every wiz build I know of runs with Critical Mass. Even archon! Therefore I believe that cooldowns should be removed whenever possible, and just increase the arcane power cost in order to avoid spamming of powerful spells.
Instead of critical mass, I suggest a new passive called Elemental Synergy.
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Elemental Synergy (passive)
Elemental Synergy is a new passive meant to promote builds based on the combination of two or more elements, where a type of elemental damage is increased if used after its synergy.
To me, a frozen enemy should receive more electrical damage. Since the freeze effect condenses water around the target, and water is a good conductor (not distilled water, just cope with me) a frozen or slowed enemy could receive x% extra electrical damage when under the effects of a cold skill.
Frozen enemies should receive an extra damage from physical attacks too (think of Terminator2 shattering of the frozen T1000)
Enemies under a burning effect could receive extra arcane damage… etc.
just scratch the game and start over or add another skill system more like the original d2 than then further modified the spells
I have no issues with the skill system, and definately dont think D2s was better.
The best way to describe it is, in order for you to know what spells you like you need to be able to try them. So any systemt that forces you to choose a spell, be locked into it, before ever even using it is not fun to me.....at all. Even if you can reset them, it's an annoyance to try something, see it fails, then jump through hoops to try something else. D2 was a great system for it's time. Games have evolved since then, and that type of system is obsolete now.
I like to experiment too, but once i have picked a skill that i like i want to be able to feel like i can invest in it and improve it to make it better. In diablo 3 i cant.
The Diablo 3 skill system is not really that innovative its allot like guildwars 1.
Id like to see a skill system which is somwhere between what d3 offers and what D2 had. Finding skills as loot would be great too.
My remarks about the Rune system, especially in concern toward the monk, what's with all the fire skills?
There needs to be a wider spectrum of elemental/physical effects. Frozen, spikes, earth, water.......almost everything is fire and wind.
What could they offer to make other Monk builds (aside from FoT-clap) truly viable without nerfing Sweeping Winds and Thunderclap? I would suggest adding similar effects to other runes that can proc at a high rate.
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As we all know, every skill has 5 runes that can be applied to it, changing its mechanic. The design concept is to allow for a huge build diversity, which is very far from what is really happening in the game, especially late game.
The idea behind this thread is to help Blizz improve the rune system by suggesting variations or even new runes to complement the ones we have, by opening a place to collect all the suggestions we can think of.
Not to disencourage discussion, but please refrain from commenting on the viability or "fun" of other peoples suggestion. Something may seem (and be) totally impossible to implement, yet it may spring someone else´s mind into action... Let’s stay positive! If you don’t agree with someone, just make a better suggestion!
I would like to see the monk play and feel like a martial arts expert, whereas right now it´s more about spamming damage buffs, getting SW up and then hold down left click, with the occasional mantra re-cast.
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Fist of Thunder
So… Since almost all monks use Fist of Thunder – Thunderclap for the teleport, I suggest making the teleport a part of the skill, regardless of rune choice. Then all five runes become useable…
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Lashing tail Kick:
I LOVE THIS MOVE!!! But I don’t use it.
The reasons are two: It´s static, meaning I have to be still to use it, and that it knocks enemies away from me (except for last 2 runes)
What I would like for LTK is to add a combo effect to it, like most generators. So instead of just one kick, make it three, where only the third one has knockback. Maybe starting a new build type like the kicksin from D2
Call of the Ancients:
this skill was designed to be amazing, but it sucks.
Sugestion:
Basic effect:
every time you kill an enemy(with the skill active) add 1 sec on the duration.
rune 1:Madwac´s Legacy
Remove the fury costs of wpn throw and the axe can pierce targets.
Rune 2: Korlic´s Legacy
Leap have no cooldown but have a fury cost instead.
Rune 3: Talic´s Legacy
Every time you active wirlwind it push enemys towards you(like vortex).
and things like that.
This skill is mad cool, but the runes lack variation on effects… It´s more bleed damage, or more time, a little rooting, etc… Only essence burn could be considered a mechanics changer, all other runes feel more or less the same. The other thing is that EP only shines if the target dies, making it cumbersome to use. (yes, practice makes perfect, but it can be improved)
So how about this… Once EP is applied to target, it receives the bleed damage and then a burst dps for x% of the targets life, regardless of target death. Only if the target dies during EP will the burst dps be spread to the surrounding enemies.
This way you have a guaranteed effect for the spirit spent, yet you still require skill and planning to make full use of the ability.
Inner Sanctuary
In all honesty I have no love for this skill, mainly because it is stationary and it is cast on your location. If you decide to cast it, you must be in that place, else it´s wasted spirit.
So, aside from making it castable on mouse location… How about giving it hit points instead of a timer? Instead of it lasting 5 seconds, make it share the players HP and armor, then monsters need to hit it to bring it down (which they will, given it doesn’t regen life, block, dodge, etc). This could result in monks gearing for this skill, getting as much vit and armor as possible in their gear… A new build has emerged!
I agree that most runes have to be realigned so that they give more "sideways" options. I main monk so for now I can't really suggest on none other than monk skills.
Fists of Thunder
Put the short dash on the base skill and remove the mini knockback.
I use LTK's knock back as crowd control but the fact that FoT already has knockback, LTK is near useless.
They should make the knockback into what FoT has right now. Move the full knockback to the Sweeping Armada rune. (like cacerola) give a rune if not the base skill a bit of movement.
I think the range of this skill is close to meaningless since only the third hit really has true range and by that the time you reach it, your enemies are already next to you. The only true benefit is that the skill pierces walls. The second attack should instead be made to extend to 20~something yards and the third becomes an actual projectile that extends even further.
This is one of my favorites, and possibly one of the coolest looking skills in the game. It is also one of the skills that has the best runes, I mean... I have used all of them to great effect. Yet the mechanics of it can be improved.
My main beef with SSS is that it´s sloppy, which is contrary to everything the monk stands for. And it is sloppy because you lose control over your character.
When you cast SSS on a single enemy it acts the way it should, bombarding the poor creature from every possible angle, making you feel powerful, fast, effective! But... As soon as other enemies appear on range, SSS "wastes" its precious hits on them.
This is why almost every Monk that uses SSS goes for fulminating onslaught... It is the only way of damaging groups effectively because you distribute damage evenly (even though you just wanted to blast the boss in the middle)
So... How about giving the player control over the character when SSS is casted? Something like a really fast and short burst of whirlwind! The starting point of the skill is always on the char location, but you get to choose where you end up and how you get there. (except for the sudden assault rune which teleports to target)
SSS should try to hit all enemies within a very small radius centered on the mouse cursor. If the mouse is not moved, then all hits will land on the closest creatures to the cursor, but if moved, then SSS will try to follow the path described hitting all mobs in its way until the 7 hits are spent. This would all happen very fast, therefore requiring a certain lvl of skill to pull perfectly.
What you get from this is a skill that allows for a much deeper experience! ... Say for example you are surrounded by 50 enemies you wish to get away from. You cast SSS, and draw a straight line going away from the group. The char should bounce from enemy to enemy following the line until it has used all of the hits available.
With this same mechanic, leaving the mouse over the center of the group (maybe a champion) would result in the skill we have today, where all hits are grouped in a certain place.
Offensively one could use SSS to reach the centre of a pack much quicker... Same scenario, but you are outside the pack and there is a goblin in the middle of it. You cast SSS then draw a line to the gob... You get the picture.
All runes could remain the same as long as I´m concerned, they would work great with this idea!
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
Moving on...
I find nothing wrong with the fundamentals of the skill system. Picking runes is no different than selecting skills you want on the skill tree. I have to admit that it is elementary and not as exciting as opening a path in a skill tree but the point is the same.
What I find really wrong is the design of the individual base skills/runes. Sometimes I'd like to see radical visual changes to a skill when I put on a rune, just not too much that it would break my graphics card. There is always a defining one or two runes in a skill that outtrumps all your other rune choices and it brings us back down to the old "lack of build diversity". Everyone goes for the optimal dps rune because all the other runes don't deliver in the same way.
I'd also like Lethal Decoy back as a passive btw.
"I love that rune skill!, I'll improve it so it becomes stronger!".
I loved that in... almost every game out there, from Diablo 2 to Disgaea.
(Yes, I love Disgaea)
I have no issues with the skill system, and definately dont think D2s was better.
The best way to describe it is, in order for you to know what spells you like you need to be able to try them. So any systemt that forces you to choose a spell, be locked into it, before ever even using it is not fun to me.....at all. Even if you can reset them, it's an annoyance to try something, see it fails, then jump through hoops to try something else. D2 was a great system for it's time. Games have evolved since then, and that type of system is obsolete now.
I like experimenting, I like switching out skills and trying new things, I like the whole spell system. Obviously they need to make some runes better, or nerf others. But that would be true if they had a D2 system as well.
Besides, this is a topic to dsicuss solutions, not just say "it sucks, throw it away" then not offer suggestions.
Unless you consider "make it like D2" a suggestion......but I don't because we've heard that 1000 times, yet very few people actually explain why it was better, or give any real suggestions to adjust the D3 system to be more in line with D2s and why it would be better.
@Zera , Zagathiest and zeroRooter: When D2 came out I hated the skill system! I was in love with the way Diablo 1 handled skills, where you had to find books in order to get spells and lvl them... I mean, how cool was it to cast firewall as a warrior! How cool was it to not know what you could achieve if you only kept on exploring the next library?
It fitted the game, the lore, and made the dungeons interesting to explore...!
So when D2 came out and all skills were presented to you from the get go, most of the magic disapeared for me... From lvl 1 you already knew everything your character was going to be able to do, no more discovering new abilities and spells.
Back in the day I posted on the D2 forums at planetdiablo.com (always constructively) asking not for a return to the old system, but a fusion of both worlds... A skilltree system that would give each character class its own distinct feel and style, plus a "loot" based system with skills and spells attainable to all characters by exploring, much like the one in D1.
I am not a fanboy, I HATE the AH, never mind the RMAH... I preferred the aesthetics of D2, the skill system of D1, the music, the story... You name it!
That being said, I am a realist... And I know that a new skill system (if it ever comes) will only be a posibility upon expansion. And Blizz wont make an expansion only for the skills, it´ll have new items, enemies, skills, classes, story, cinematics, music... That is going to take years of development!
Until that time comes I am willing to try and improve what we have because I love this franchise and I feel it´s hurting.
Back to positive mode, lets do some wizard skills to try and please zeroRooter…
Shock Pulse
My favorite sorc spell from D2 was charged bolt!! In early lvls, it was kinda weak for the mana it consumed because of the nature of it´s randomness. Sometimes all of the bolts would connect and it was awesome, but it was at higher lvls, with 10+ bolts that it started to shine and become more predictable.
So… For me, shock pulse is the retarded cousin of charged bolt. It never scales beyond 3 bolts and they travel just a couple of steps from caster, making it only usable at melee range. Ranged class…? Anyone? We have spectral blade for a melee wiz, no need for another skill.
What I suggest is to make it scale with character lvl, maybe add a bolt every 3 lvls for a total of 20 bolts on clvl 60 and increase the distance traveled by the bolts to half a screen minimum. At low char lvl the skill will work like we know it today except bolts will travel further, and it will increase its usefulness as the character progresses and the randomness becomes les important with the addition of extra bolts.
I'm also an avid monk fan, and I really wish that class would be suped up a bit.
Anyway, I've sat and looked at pretty much every skill they have and thought of ways to improve them, but here are a few of the ones I like.
Absolutely agree with FoT needing the teleport on the base skill, and the need for combo style spenders. For a martial arts expert, it's pretty sad that the only direct instant, spammable offensive spenders is this:
- An very underwhelming spin kick that has more elements putting you at a disatvantage than anything else
- A massive bell (kinda lame lol) that's just way too expensive and also underwhelming.
- Exploding Palm, which is a great concept, but need much more rune variation
- Cyclone Strike (Does ANYONE use this??) Nuff said
- Dashing strike, no matter how much you enjoy it, it gets outclassed by FoT thunderclap in every way.
Thats it.. Breaks my heart.
So the Monk definitley need work. Here are some ideas, in no real order or priority.
- Cyclone Strike - I think there are several ways this spell can be reworked. Currently it's just laughably expensive, does no damage, and has a pretty "meh" effect. I say, Increase the base AoE, boost the damage x2 or x3, and a built in slow, but give it a 10-15 sec cooldown. Because who would spam a spell like this anyway? You only need to bring everyone on screen next to you that often. Just imagine that spell combined with SSS fulmanating Stirke. Insanely awesomke.
- Dashing Strike - I think this spell could use inspiration from Wave of light. I'd love if this damaged all enemies in a path (and at least 180% wd) , and I'd be absolutely fine with having it's cost increased by quite a bit (to avoid mobility abuse) for that. Plus you could get really creative with runes then, like a variant that leaves a trail of fire behind as well.
- Mantra of Retribution - Honestly the worst skill in the game. Of all classes. Ever. I'd have prefered for this skills base being more like Mantra of Evasion - Backlash (backlash itself shouldnt need to change). The idea with MoR is that attacks from enemies (or whatever) actually trigger real retribution, or counter attacks, based on your weapon damage. Re-casting could actually cause a little damaging nova. And that would also make room for a lot of awesome runes. I love backlash, (so much so that it would be better as a mantra on it's own) and would always use it if overawe wasn't so OP.
- Mantra of Healing - Not lame in concept, but lets be honest, fixed numbers suck. And percentages would work better, but still be boring. I think something that gives like 0.2% regen per enemy within 30 yard range, and 30% of your armor by default, that goes down to 10% of your armor, depending on enemies within that range. In other words, A lot of enemies means high hp regen, very little armor bonus, and a boss or a single elite pack will mean low hp regen, but high armor boost. Something like that.
All in all the monk is the only class in desperate need of MORE skills. Offensive spenders. Most other classes can get away with reworks and tweaks, but the monk simply has too few of those kinds of spells to work with.
I'll post more a bit Later
(btw, Zarakumite is the tittle of the poster, not the name)
Haha Sorry, I'm a total noob. Why is this thread so quiet? Sure there's a lot of D3 suggestion threads, but this one is awesome because it's so much more spesific! Gogogogo
Another one of those spells that sounds mad cool, only to end up being lack luster at best.
RoF is essentially a disintegrate that has no pierce… So why would anyone occupy a precious slot with it? Why would anyone use a single target skill in a game that’s based around slaying thousands of enemies per run? Oh right! Nobody uses it.
So… Before we even discuss runes we have to address the core mechanics of this skill. Given that drops from bosses are so lame, there is really no reason behind single target dps regardless of how hard the skill hits, so I feel like it needs some form of AOE.
What I suggest is that in its un-runed form, ray of frost should have a AOE effect upon impact, slowing and damaging al enemies within a small radius plus a chance to freeze. (since disintegrate with temporal flux already pierces AND slows)
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Frost Nova
My first lvl 99 character in D2 was a nova sorc designed to mow down the cow lvl, and boy was it fun! Teleport into a mass of angry bovines and spam nova so fast that everything was dead before the first creature hit the ground. (waaaaay before windforce poison zons)
Back in the day, nova had no cooldown, but it costed gobs of mana, and since it was electric damage and didn’t freeze, you had to be carefull not to get surrounded, or you were a dead sorcie!
I suggest bringing the old nova back, being the base damage physical with a chance to knockback targets. No cooldown.
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That being said… I believe that cooldowns have little meaning for a Wizard in a ARPG (except for skills like archon). I mean… You are THE ONE, you are NEO, you are the manifestation of destiny! How can you be stuck waiting for a skill to be available??
Every wiz build I know of runs with Critical Mass. Even archon! Therefore I believe that cooldowns should be removed whenever possible, and just increase the arcane power cost in order to avoid spamming of powerful spells.
Instead of critical mass, I suggest a new passive called Elemental Synergy.
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Elemental Synergy (passive)
Elemental Synergy is a new passive meant to promote builds based on the combination of two or more elements, where a type of elemental damage is increased if used after its synergy.
To me, a frozen enemy should receive more electrical damage. Since the freeze effect condenses water around the target, and water is a good conductor (not distilled water, just cope with me) a frozen or slowed enemy could receive x% extra electrical damage when under the effects of a cold skill.
Frozen enemies should receive an extra damage from physical attacks too (think of Terminator2 shattering of the frozen T1000)
Enemies under a burning effect could receive extra arcane damage… etc.
Just imagine a pair for every elemental type.
I like to experiment too, but once i have picked a skill that i like i want to be able to feel like i can invest in it and improve it to make it better. In diablo 3 i cant.
The Diablo 3 skill system is not really that innovative its allot like guildwars 1.
Id like to see a skill system which is somwhere between what d3 offers and what D2 had. Finding skills as loot would be great too.
This sounds too much like the current Wave of Force.
Excellent ideas across the board at any rate. I especially like the suggestions to Ray of Frost.
There needs to be a wider spectrum of elemental/physical effects. Frozen, spikes, earth, water.......almost everything is fire and wind.
What could they offer to make other Monk builds (aside from FoT-clap) truly viable without nerfing Sweeping Winds and Thunderclap? I would suggest adding similar effects to other runes that can proc at a high rate.
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