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    posted a message on Patch 2.0: Moving forward with Improvements!
    The problem is that the game's major issues are actually a gestalt combination of several different things merged together. In order to fix the big issues, you need to fix the smaller issues first, that when merged together creates the larger issue. Lets take Itemization for example. Itemization is bad because:
    -> Drop rates for specific items is low.
    -> Certain affixes must be on the item for the item to be considered of high quality (ie CC, CD, IAS). Some affixes have a neutral effect on the item's quality (ie Pickup Radius) whereas others have a negative effect on the quality (ie Life on Kill).
    -> The crafting system is a poor alternative to finding your items.
    -> The auction house is usually mandatory to find effective upgrades.
    -> How well rolled an affix is also determines overall quality.
    -> Some affixes are mandatory to have a quality item.

    So you see, the idea that the smaller issues that I'm providing suggestions for solving actually DO take precedence. Because without solving the minor issues first, you can't truly solve the larger issue. You could make a simple change by increasing drop rates immensely to try and solve it by method of quantity over quality OR fixate on improving the quality, so that the quantity isn't needed as greatly.

    Same goes for build variety. Build Variety is bad because:
    -> Certain skills appear to be mandatory. Certain skills provide very little benefit over other skills.
    -> You have a limited number of skills that you can have active at any one point. You have to choose the best combination of skills that will provide the highest return with the lowest risk. WW/RLTW provides that for Barbarians as it is very effective and has a low risk of failure as long as you keep moving and have rage.
    -> Your build depends on if you are playing solo or cooperatively. Playing glass cannon is far easier in Co-Op games than it is Solo due to very in-effective Tank followers. Playing a tank build is far easier in Co-Op games that it is Solo due to very in-effective DPS followers. Having effective followers allows players to play how they like. That is why followers takes precedence.
    -> Your build depends on the gear you have on currently. Certain builds are only viable with high CC or high IAS. Attempting them without high CC/IAS usually ends in a lot of dying.

    All of my suggestions are aimed at fixing the lesser issues that when combined together creates the major issues: Itemization, Build Variety, and Game Longevity.

    EDIT: As to the comment on Crappy Legendaries... Think about what makes a Legendary considered to be crappy:
    -> Rolling poorly.
    -> Not having specific good affixes.
    -> Having too many bad affixes.
    -> No sockets.
    -> Low DPS (for weapons).

    If we modify the systems used to making rolling better, won't that improve legendaries? If crafting was better, and had Stat Fixers, wouldn't it be more likely to craft a well-rolled legendary? Since my Stat Fixers require a lot of resources to produce even 1 for Inferno level gear, wouldn't improving Salvaging be appropriate? Without improving salvaging, it would take next to forever for a player to get enough materials to make enough fixers to fix 6 affixes on a crafted item. If followers are improved, won't that mean we would be able to gear them appropriately to create a viable sidekick that actually works, rather than the current glorified moneymaker.

    EDIT2: I think I should have clarified with ZeroPS over which "forums" I was referring to. I meant the Forums on the Diablo 3 website and NOT Diablo Fans. I'm sure the forums here was a lot more friendly.

    EDIT3: Thanks for the feedback.

    I believe I answered 1 and 2 appropriately above. Followers may not be a blatant issue, but their ability to be effective has an effect on how we gear them, how we play solo and what kind of builds we create while playing solo. If followers were better, it would make the single-player experience more enjoyable. It may not be a priority. My intent is to make items in general very good making it a hard decision to salvage an item for materials. And my intent is that if the decision is difficult to make then you should be rewarded with more materials, AS you won't be salvaging items AS often.

    For Fixers, remember it takes materials to make them and takes more fixers to fix more affixes. Example: Take the Helm of Command, Legendary. It has a total of 4 random affixes and two guaranteed affixes VIT and 8% Chance to Block. To fix the Helmet to have 4 affixes that YOU want would require: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 = 10 Fixers total. A single fixer requires 8 Rare Inferno materials and 1 Brimstone. So to get a Helm of Command you would first need the materials to make the helm + 80 Inferno Rare Materials + 10 Brimstones to craft a Helm of Command WITH the affixes you wanted. This doesn't guarantee that the affixes will roll high, mind you. It would cost a player a fortune to either salvage enough Fixer Materials or purchase them off the auction house in order to get an item with the appropriate affixes. If it was a 6 Affixes random item it would require: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 = 21 Fixers OR 168 Rare Inferno Materials + 21 Brimstones. That is a lot of materials. Most people would not EASILY be able to fix 6 affixes on an item. Its possible, but would consume a lot of gold to do it.

    You are right crafting experience is fairly lame. I'll remove it.

    By auction house fees I meant the Gold Auction House not the RMAH. You are probably right that they cannot change those fees.
    Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion
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    posted a message on Patch 2.0: Moving forward with Improvements!
    @Stephenk291; I'm referencing Diablo 3, because it is a video game. There will come a point in every video game where it must end at some point. That point is usually when the game no longer gets support. Thats why I'm referencing Diablo 3. At some point the developers will stop supporting it, and people will get the very best of gear, beat all the opposition and have nothing left to do... except start anew. I'm surprised I do have to school you on how video games work. I thought it was common sense that every game must have an end to it. Otherwise how do you define Victory or Success? A video game is played to determine who is the Victor and who is the Loser. If there is no clear way to win or lose, it is no longer a game; its a hobby. Building paper airplanes is a hobby. Seeing who can get theirs to go the farthest is a game.

    Most people have determined that the game is done for them. Thats why, out of the 12 million or so that bought it at launch, the 10 million or so that left and stopped playing, have determined that the game is done when you beat Diablo on Normal/Nightmare/Hell/Inferno. The 2 million that play constantly, would disagree, but I digress. My suggestions are designed to encourage people who have left to return and those that have stayed to keep playing.

    @Everyone; Why do we have to keep doing this. Keep to the damn topic or get lost. I'm tired of this. Either comment on my suggestions and their worthwhile-ness or scram. You guys who think I'm being defensive about my ideas being shot down are wrong. Shoot them down, but tell me why you think they are crap. Saying they are crap and leaving it at that is hate mongering. I'm annoyed that there has been what two or three posts related to the suggestions themselves and the rest are about attacking me, and not my suggestions. Just go away, is that too much to ask for? Apparently it is.
    Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion
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    posted a message on Patch 2.0: Moving forward with Improvements!
    @Zerops;

    Every single change has not been made for the playerbase. There was huge uproars when they nerfed IAS. There were even bigger uproars when they increased gold costs for repairs. Though this doesn't really affect people much now, as we've adapted to it, I wouldn't start saying that every change has been made based off suggestions by the playerbase. The majority of the playerbase didn't want those two things. Maybe I can't get out of my head how Blizzard initially reacted OR it was how Blizzard initially reacted.

    All I'm saying is try to read my suggestion post with an open mind or don't bother posting at all. This has gotten out of hand and is side-tracking the whole post.

    @Stephenk291;

    This is the fallacy of all video games. They all have to end at some point. Diablo 3 is no different. People didn't realize this as much in Diablo 2, as we had to constantly create new characters to test out builds and there was ladder resets. Thats the problem with WoW as well, as well as any RPG. Eventually you will run out of content, have the best gear, and have bested all the opposition. What now? Do you add more content? More bosses? etc...

    But... why are you posting this on my thread? I'm interested in fixing the game as it stands rather than add a whole slew of new content (well except for the integration of the systems to affect the current content), items (well except for my gold sinks), monsters and achievements.

    EDIT: If you think I'm all for archaic systems then you haven't read my suggestion post. I never really liked the Stats / Skills in Diablo 2 as if you made a mistake earlier on, you were stuck with it. Same problem with Dark Souls really... unfortunate, but ya.

    EDIT2: The problem I've seen with other 2.0 threads is that they are more inclined to provide all these options for the current playerbase, but ignore the new playerbase that has no hopes of utilizing the changes anytime soon. My suggestions are aimed at making the game run smoother for both new and old players, and to balance out some of the bigger issues: Itemization, Build Variety, Public Games, and Game Continuity (the problem that the game will end eventually).
    Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion
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    posted a message on Patch 2.0: Moving forward with Improvements!
    @ZeroPS;

    I've been on the forums since launch, I know how toxic it got after the first several months (0 to 9). I know which kind of forum posts got CM attention and which posts didn't. I remember after the first month or so it was all positive criticism. When Blizzard ignored all that, it got violent, death threats, and the whole nasty works happened. After all that hate mongering from the playerbase, Blizzard finally responded, slowly, but responded nonetheless. Blizzard hasn't been very open for a long time about which ideas they like or don't like. They didn't respond to constructive criticism only things about kittens and the like. When Jay Wilson was leaving, and Travis Day came on the scene, the whole manner in the way Blizzard operated changed drastically. Maybe it was coincidence, I dunno. Anyway, Blizzard has gone from appearing to be close-minded to very open-minded and open to suggestions. Thus why I'm giving suggestions.

    Are my suggestions perfect and without flaws? Doubt it. Will they break things? Probably. Could it split the playerbase? Maybe. Does that mean we should stop giving ideas and suggestions though? No, I don't think so. I think that we should keep on offering ideas and maybe Blizzard will use some and maybe they won't. I should probably reword the Foreword then...

    EDIT: Foreword modified. Thanks for the feedback.
    Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion
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    posted a message on Patch 2.0: Moving forward with Improvements!
    Be it as it may or may not be, I'm going to continue with or without you, Bagstone. If you don't like my process of doing things then thats fine. I don't want to waste your time.

    The thing is I'm not trying to one-up someone else. I'm just trying to get my own ideas out there. I'll feel better knowing I tried, rather than give up and not bother. If you really really like MrMonstrousity's post, stick with his, but, my suggestion thread is more inclined to fill in the gaps that he didn't mention. His idea for crafting is adding a whole lot of new recipes. I on the other hand am more interested in fixing the current recipes as is, before adding new recipes. He is very interested in making Legendaries awesome and the loot hunt for them great. I'm more interested in making the entire loot hunt great and fixing a lot of the problems with whites, blues, and yellows.

    The big thing you should take from my suggestions is that:

    I'm interested in fixing and improving upon the existing systems and mechanics rather than on adding a whole bunch of new features (though the randomization is more the exception)
    Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion
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    posted a message on Patch 2.0: Moving forward with Improvements!
    @Mukkir; Truly some of the worst eh? So you are against making followers useful or against making things more random? Or were you meaning one of the other sections that hasn't been written yet? Saying something is the worst without saying WHY it is the worst is terrible feedback. Actually its hate mongering.

    @Zimmir; I had considered that, but had found that I had too much information and needed to cut it down first, and felt I might as well get my word out NOW, rather than wait 2-3 weeks cleaning it up and then post it.

    @Bagstone; I agree, but the problem is that Blizzard will often NOT use a polished idea created by a player. They will rip and tear the chunks out of the idea that they like and form it together with other ideas of their own and create their own thing. And thus, Paragon levels were born. So I think that it is better to release several ideas out there that are not terribly polished in the hopes that part of my idea will be used by them to create new features. If the idea is too well polished, Blizzard would likely ignore the idea as they wouldn't have the room to tweak it as they like. In general I agree that it is better to have one or two well polished ideas when giving it to most developers. Blizzard however is not most developers, so I have to tailor my suggestions to their methods of accepting them.

    @Ruksak; You do realize that the posts with information overload are the ones that Blizzard often pays attention to right? I'm sure its because they feel theres gotta be something useful there thats been well fleshed out. Take MrMonstrousity's post. Its information overload with some well fleshed out ideas (the brimstones isn't well fleshed out unfortunately) AND... it got Blizzard's attention. Remember we are not dealing with a run of the mill developer here. These guys want information and lots of it. The more that is available, the more they can work with and tweak. And yes I want to inspire the developers.

    EDIT: Lastly guys, no offense but I'm not creating this thread as a great read or anything for the forum posters. I'm creating it for the benefit of Blizzard. You do not have to read it if you don't want to. Actually it probably doesn't matter if you do read or don't read it. But if you do read it, please read it with an open mind. If there is something with a feature that you really don't like, discuss it here and I'll discuss it with you. I don't want hate mongering here... if thats what you want to do, go badger someone else.
    Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion
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    posted a message on Patch 2.0: Moving forward with Improvements!
    @Oranite; I hear ya. It is interesting that Blizzard's motto, "It is finished when it is finished." wasn't applied to Diablo 3's launch. Terrible server issues, rampant bugs and exploits, hacking incidents, etc... kind of proved that Diablo 3 was not finished when it was released. I appreciate that Blizzard is more inclined now to fix the problems, though I'm unsure of the value in waiting several months for a new patch. Like it would be one thing if Blizzard had fixed all the major gamebreaking issues and THEN was taking a break, but as Itemization, Build Variety and Replayability hasn't been addressed fully yet (Has been addressed but not heavily enough). My suggestion thread will give the Blizzard developers some suggestions to combat each of those huge problems. Are my solutions the best solutions? Can't say for sure, but it would be nice if they were.

    Though even if Blizzard IS working on the expansion I doubt AS many will buy it on launch week. I can't see millions of people purchasing the expansion on launch day what with the problems at launch and the overall anti-feedback anti-criticism attitude that was given to the fans post released. Blizzard has kind of destroyed the Diablo brand name and I doubt many are going to forgive them for that EVEN with all the patches released; not only that but they've kind of destroyed their own lore for the diablo universe as well. Can't be helped I suppose, but I will try to offer suggestions for what I believe can be improved upon and salvage certain elements that many are suggesting to remove from the game (ie White Items, Life on Kill, etc...).

    Check back later, I'll have more of my suggestions fleshed out!
    Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion
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    posted a message on Patch 2.0: Moving forward with Improvements!
    Fair enough. Yes I do intend to flesh things out a fair bit. Most of my ideas aren't necessarily new ideas for me, so I've had plenty of time to flesh a lot of it out. Getting it into a format that is easily readable on the otherhand... Thatll take some work. Check back later!
    Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion
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    posted a message on Patch 2.0: Moving forward with Improvements!
    - Unique Monster Changes -

    Unique monsters, although unique and interesting, do not offer much in ways of reward or threat in fighting them. I intend to offer suggestions on how to make Uniques a greater threat and provide a greater reward as well.

    Reward Ideas: (Will flesh out and put ideas together in a better framework later)
    -> Guaranteed brimstone and demonic essence drops
    -> Grants two stacks of Nephalem Valor
    -> Higher probability of dropping legendaries or sets
    -> Can drop dyes like Infernal Dye
    -> Achievements for each Unique monster slain rather than for the whole group
    -> Each unique monster drops an unique item related to it to be kept as a trophy. This trophy, would act like the old charms, and be kept in your inventory to provide an useful bonus

    Threat Ideas: (Will flesh out and put ideas together in a better framework later)
    -> Uniques come with a retinue of regular non-minion monsters of the same type. Ex. Jay Wilson with Unburied monsters.
    -> Uniques get access to player-related skills and can use them against the player
    -> Uniques come with a specific resistance to a certain type of damage. Ex. Poison, Physical, Fire, etc...
    -> Uniques come with unique death animations or even unique animations for their monster type
    -> Uniques can spawn in a boss chamber with an act boss
    -> Uniques can spawn with an extra affix according to the difficulty you are in (ie 2 for Normal or 5 for Inferno)
    ===================================
    - Boss Changes -

    Similiar to unique monsters, I want to see Bosses, become more powerful but more rewarding as well. A boss in my opinion should be far tougher and nastier than any elite pack you should face, but this kind of difficulty shouldn't just be MORE health or MORE damage. I'm thinking special tactics or other such things (will work on this). This means that elite packs will be far simpler to farm and often far more rewarding (as it will take less effort to kill them), but the bosses will provide unique rewards that you can't get otherwise. These bosses are the lords or kings of Hell. They should have the power to match, otherwise if you think about it, any old Elite pack working together could take on someone like Belial, and take over his position. A boss should take effort and a lot of it, to kill one. Consider that Diablo in Diablo 1 or Diablo 2, was a pain in the butt to kill. Each boss should be a force to be reckoned with. And as such, should reward the player for downing them appropriately.

    Reward Ideas:
    -> Having a higher chance to drop legendaries associated with them. (ie Butcher dropping Butcher's Sickle)
    -> Having a small chance to drop a single Infernal Machine
    -> Having a far higher chance to drop blacksmithing or jewelcrafting plans
    -> Having a chance to drop higher level gems that normally do not drop
    -> Having a chance to drop my "Affix Fixers"
    -> Provide far greater rare rewards at the highest MP level

    Threat Ideas:
    -> Being able to use specific player skills with a spin on them
    -> Being able to summon in an elite pack for assistance
    -> Being able to move around the battlefield easily
    -> Having more reliable back up or support units that they spawn (ie Skeleton King with the Warriors/Archers)
    -> Being able to do unique things, like drain a player's entire resource pool or mind-control a player or follower
    -> Being affected by Monster Power in greater ways than most critters. In that, they deal twice as much damage and three times as much HP than other creatures for a MP. This means that at MP10, even for guys with 250k+ DPS, they are looking at a really long boss fight.
    -> Making the boss fight tougher at higher MP levels, but not just in higher HP / Dam, but the actual mechanics of the fight to provide the ultimate challenge for high-end players. Not for the faint of heart.
    -> Bosses can perform special fatality animations. One of the things people loved about one of the first D3 preview videos was when the Siegebreaker performed that fatality on the Barbarian. Each boss can perform special fatalities dependent on the attack action used.

    NOTE: Will give suggested changes for EACH final boss later to show what I mean.
    NOTE2: Will only encounter the harder bosses on MP1 or above. You will fight the regular boss on MP0 without any of these added skills, abilities or mechanics, so that people who don't want to face these nasties don't have to. MP 1 has just the improved skills bosses with some new mechanics. MP 2 is where the fun begins.
    NOTE3: The preamble with the map is important for the new mechanics. For those that don't know cardinal directions: NW = Northwest, NE = Northeast, SW = South West, SE = South East, N = North, E = East, W = West, and S = South. YES, I have had people that don't know what these are.
    --------------------------------------------------------
    1) Butcher (Act 1 - Final)

    The map is laid out as a Hexagon, with 7 different fire pits: NW, N, NE, SW, S, SE and Center. There is a gate (exit) to the North, and a gate (entrance) to the South. There is two health pools, one to NW and one to NE. There is two furnaces (unused) to the West and to the East. There is a dropoff ledge to a pit to the SE and SW. The grates create a fire for a short period dealing a lot of fire damage without fire resistance. After about two to three minutes the grates will create fire faster and faster, until you are dead or the boss is dead.

    The vanilla boss has these attack moves:
    -> Charge Attack with Knockback
    -> 9 Spears in a 60 Degree Arc
    -> Grapple Hook with temporary immobilization, followed up with a slam attack with the Axe
    -> Hops a couple times then slams with the axe
    -> Normal Slash with Axe
    -> Normal Slash with Hook

    MP 1:

    BOSS:
    -> Normal Attack with the Hook causes 25% Movement Penalty for 3 seconds
    -> Normal Attack with the Axe causes 50% Bleed Damage for 3 seconds
    -> Charge Attack causes knockback and stuns targets for 2 seconds if they are hit by him
    -> Prepared Slam Attack (hops around) has a 25% higher critical strike chance when it lands a hit. This produces a special fatality where he slices you in half.
    -> Slam Attack following the Grapple Hook knockbacks the target 45 yds.
    -> The Grapple Hook's animation is faster and hits more precisely, making it harder to avoid

    ENVIRONMENT:
    -> Every 5 seconds an Inferno Zombie (those zombies you find in the Halls of Agony crawling out of the fire) crawls out of the furnace.
    -> Every 10 seconds 2 to 3 Demons scale the dropoff ledge and join the fray
    -> Every 15 seconds a single Dark Berserker (those demons with the slam attack that hurts a lot) enters the combat zone from the southern gate (entrance).

    MP 2
    BOSS:
    -> Has all the improved abilities of MP 1 Butcher
    -> Foot Slam = Similiar to Barbarian Ground Stomp; Stuns anyone within 8 yds for 3 seconds
    -> Cleaving Strike = Swings the axe in a wide arc hitting several opponents at once
    -> Axe Toss = The Butcher throws his axe at someone dealing horrendous damage. The butcher must retrieve his axe to use it again.

    ENVIRONMENT:
    -> Every 4 seconds an Inferno Zombie crawls out of the furnace
    -> Every 10 seconds 2 to 4 Demons scale the dropoff ledge and join the fray
    -> Every 15 seconds 1 to 2 Dark Berserkers enter from the southern gate
    -> Every 30 seconds a large gout of fire blazes out of one of the furnaces for 2 seconds

    NOTE: Will work on more later. Will tweak and revise things as well.
    Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion
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    posted a message on Patch 2.0: Moving forward with Improvements!
    [spoiler]*Text*[/spoiler]
    FOLLOWERS AND CLASSES:
    ========================================
    - FOLLOWERS -

    The main idea for making changes to followers is to improve build variety for characters. Think about it for a second. If you wanted to go completely glass cannon, wouldn't you need a reliable Tank or friend to take the hits for you? Well, in a multiplayer game, you can go glass cannon. Playing solo, you can't. The same goes for if you want to play as a tank (Why? Doing higher MP levels that normally your gear wouldn't allow you to do, or to reach P100 on Hardcore or something) you'd need an effective DPSer to make the fights not last forever. In multiplayer games, this works out well. But solo, if you want to go tank, then fights will take next to forever. This is why followers should be a priority. An effective follower will really improve the single player experience.

    Suggested changes for followers are broken up into two parts: General Changes and Specific Changes. The reasoning behind these changes is the fact that as it currently stands a follower is only useful for their passive buffs or the bonuses granted from MF/GF. Being that a properly equipped follower in Diablo 2 could handle themselves quite well in different difficulties, I believe that moving forward, the follower in Diablo 3 should also be able to handle themselves better.

    1) First, the general changes:

    A] Remove the damage cap on all three of the followers. This will give us the incentive to properly gear our followers with meaningful gear choices rather than using them for their passive buffs and MF/GF. It will allow our followers to be able to assist in dishing out damage and will help with their overall survivability. Since we cannot use the follower in multiplayer games, this will only cause our single player games to be affected.

    B] Provide each follower with a higher armor rating based on their level. As we cannot directly modify their armor rating without having a ring/ammy with +armor, the follower cannot take hits as well as we can, particularly on any higher MP levels higher than 0. Even Kormac cannot survive hits too well on higher than MP 0, even with a decent shield.

    C] Lastly make the specific skill changes suggested below. Some of the abilities have been drastically improved in power. This is because without these changes the followers are fairly lackluster with their abilities as they have such long cooldowns and/or when used don't produce a great or powerful effect anyway. The numbers are not set in stone per say, but I think that they are a good starting point. Restrictions on many of the abilities should also be removed such as the scoundrel needs a bow to perform many of his special shots.

    2) Second, the specific changes:

    -------------------------------------------

    TEMPLAR

    Templars should be able to use Twohanded Maces, Swords and Axes as well as their regular equipment which is Onehanded Maces, Swords, Axes and Shields.

    The following skill changes makes the templar either an able tank that is capable of pulling threats away from your character or for dishing out healthy doses of damage.

    HEAL = 5% HP; 10 Second Cooldown
    INTERVENE = Taunt enemies for 2.5 seconds that are within 10 yds of you; 10 Second Cooldown
    LOYALTY = 1% HP per Second
    INTIMIDATE = Enemies hit by the Templar are taunted into attacking them for 1 second
    CHARGE = 125% WepDam; Stun for 2.5 Seconds within 10 yds; 20 Second Cooldown
    ONSLAUGHT = 200% WepDam; 10 Second Cooldown
    INSPIRE = No Change
    GUARDIAN = Rush to your aid and taunt all enemies within 15 yds to attack the Templar; 20 Second Cooldown

    ------------------------------

    SCOUNDREL

    Scoundrels should be able to use quivers with their crossbows or bows. Afterall the third tier of scoundrel armor sports two of them.

    CRIPPLING SHOT = Deals 75% WepDam; Slows Target by 60% for 5 seconds; Cooldown 5 seconds
    POISONED BOLT = Deals 100% WepDam; 40% WepDam over 2 seconds; Cooldown 5 seconds
    DIRTY FIGHTING = Stuns a single enemy for 5 seconds; Cooldown 20 seconds
    VANISH = Vanishes and reappears 5 seconds later; Heals 75% of Maximum health; Cooldown 20 seconds
    POWERED SHOT = Deals 50% WepDam at all targets within 12 yds and has a 100% chance to stun targets for 1 second; Cooldown 20 seconds
    MULTISHOT = Fires 3 shots or special shots at the same time
    HYSTERIA = Whenever the scoundrel hits an opponent you both get a 10% damage bonus for 4 seconds; Cannot occur more than once per 5 seconds
    ANATOMY = Unchanged

    -----------------------------------------

    ENCHANTRESS

    The Enchantress should be able to use wands, orbs and staves (plural of staff). She shouldn't be able to use Twohanded Maces, Swords and Axes.

    POLYMORPH [ Old Charm] = Enemy is morphed into a chicken for 5 seconds; Cooldown 10 Seconds
    FORCEFUL PUSH = Knockback within 12 yds of explosion; Deals 125% WepDam; Cooldown 10 Seconds
    MISSILE WARD = Reduces ranged damage taken by 20%
    POWERED ARMOR = Increases armor by 10% and increases your maximum resource pool by 10%
    DISORIENT = Causes enemies within the area to be confused for 10 seconds; Cooldown 15 seconds
    EROSION = Deals 250% WepDam over 5 seconds; Affected enemies take an addition 25% damage for 5 seconds; Cooldown 15 seconds
    FOCUSED MIND = Increases attack speed by 5% for both you and the enchantress. No range limit.
    MASS CONTROL = All enemies within 30 yds of spell are charmed and fight for you for 15 seconds; Cooldown 20 seconds

    ========================================
    CLASSES:

    - Foreword -

    The two biggest problems with this game are itemization and build variety; they are closely linked together, in that itemization affects build variety and build variety affects itemization. What I mean is that in order to fix itemization completely, you have to fix build variety completely. Or vice versa. The reason everyone requires CC, CD, IAS, Main Stat, Armor, Resistance, Vitality, Life Steal; is because all of our builds require these things. If there was a greater amount of build variety, THEN you could see some builds NOT requiring these stats, or having them at a lesser priority to other affixes. If build variety is good, then itemization will be good, as not everyone will need the same affixes. So, to elaborate my point I'll give an example for D&D terms:

    A basic D&D party is formed of a Tank, a Healer, A DPSer, and a Support Character. Each roles requires different things to be successful, and it require cooperation to be successful.

    In Diablo 3, its every man or women for themselves; there is no roles. If there were basic roles in a group, then we could have build variety. And then therefore, cooperation isn't as needed, as we can each handle ourselves. However, by specializing into a role, a party can work better by being cooperative, rather than everyone being a Jack of all Trades (Having HP, Damage, and Survivability). Why do I bring up these basic roles, heres why:

    A tank = Requires high health, high damage resistance, and an ability to control enemies so that the rest of the party doesn't have to deal with the enemies as much. A tank wouldn't require CC or CD, as they are focused less on damage and more on controlling fights, with taunts, stuns, movement penalties, etc...

    A healer = Requires a good tank to allow them to focus on healing the group of its damage and mitigating future damage. These guys are less concerned about dealing damage or taking damage, but more on relieving the ailments of their party members.

    A DPSer = Focuses on dishing out tons of damage to tons of foes all at the same time. They are usually glass cannon and depend on the heals from the healer and the tanking from the tank to survive, which allows them to push out some freaky damage over a very short period of time.

    A Support = Someone who focuses on support the group in any way they can, either by dealing massive damage to single foes, assisting with healing, removing threats from the healers or DPSers, etc...

    Now, I'm not saying we have to have these kinds of things in Diablo. However, if you look at each role you realize that each role prizes certain affixes over others and considers some affixes as worthless to their build role. Just something to keep in mind, when looking at my changes to the Wizard and Barbarian, and changes to itemization in general.

    - Barbarians -

    In order to encourage players to stand and fight rather than to sprint and whirlwind through things, major changes need to be done to many of skills to faciliate it. Lets face it, the reason people love the build is because it provides the highest return with the lowest risk. I welcome disagreement on my changes if you so desire to, but please state an alternative or a reason why you disagree.

    NOTE: Remember the changes are needed to encourage greater build diversity. If you think they are too drastic comment on it and why.

    1) Primary Skills:
    Bash = 175% WepDam With 50% Chance to Knockback; Generates 8 Fury
    -> Clobber = 35% Chance to Stun for 2 seconds and 35% Chance to Knockback; Possibly at same time.
    -> Onslaught = 3 Reverbations at 25% WepDam each; 20% Chance to Knockback
    -> Punish = 8% increased WepDam for 15 seconds; Stacks 5 times.
    -> Instigation = Unchanged
    -> Pulverize = Shockwave that deals 75% WepDam in a 26 yd line behind the enemy

    Cleave = 150% WepDam in a wide arc (120 angle degrees); Generates 6 Fury
    -> Rupture = Enemies slain cause an explosion dealing 110% WepDam to all enemies within 10 yds
    -> Reaping Swing = Unchanged
    -> Scattering Blast = On Crit; Knockback 15 yds, and inflict 225% WepDam to enemies within 6 yds of where they land
    -> Broad Sweep = Increases attack arc to 180 angle degrees and deal 200% WepDam
    -> Gathering Storm = Attacks cause enemies to be pulled closer to you (similiar to Ancient Spear) and have their movement speed reduced by 50% for 3 seconds

    Frenzy = Swing for 100% WepDam; Each hit adds a stack that increases IAS by 15% which lasts for 15 seconds; Generates 4 Fury
    -> Sidearm = 40% chance that you hit with both weapons at once rather than just one weapon when attacking with Frenzy
    -> Triumph = Heals you for 10% of Maximum Life over 5 seconds when killing with Frenzy
    -> Vanguard = While under the effects of Frenzy, your Dodge chance is increased by 10%
    -> Smite = 40% chance to stun for 1 second and knockback an opponent away from you when hit by a bolt of lightning
    -> Maniac = Increases WepDam by 5% for each stack of Frenzy you have

    ------------------------------------------
    2) Secondary Skills:

    NOTE: Remember, the purpose of some of these drastic changes is to encourage difficult decisions in making a build. The harder it is to make decisions, the more build variety there will be. If two skills are on par in power you can expect to see at least two new builds erupt, if not more. The same goes for runes. If multiple runes are appear to be on par in power and usefulness, more builds will become available. Ex. For whirlwind most barbarians choose 'hurricane' as it appears to be the most powerful rune available. If the other runes were buffed up, you could see Barbarians running around with other runes active.

    Hammer of the Ancients = Deal 325% WepDam to enemies within 10 yds; +1% CC per 4 Fury; 20 Fury Cost
    -> Rolling Thunder = A shockwave that deals 325% WepDam to all enemies in a 25 yd narrow arc
    -> Smash = Strike a smaller area for 500% WepDam
    -> The Devil's Anvil = Create a tremor at the area of effect that slows movement by 50% for 5 seconds
    -> Thunderstrike = On Crit, Stuns all enemies within 12 yds for 3 seconds
    -> Birthright = Reduces Fury Cost to 10

    Rend = Deal 700% WepDam over 3 seconds to everyone with 15 yds; 20 Fury Cost
    -> Ravage = Increase radius of effect to 30 yds
    -> Blood Lust = Gain 10% of damage dealt by Rend as Life
    -> Lacerate = Deal 850% WepDam over 3 seconds (Old damage was 182% per second; new is 283% per second)
    -> Mutiliate = Enemies rended suffer a 75% movement penalty
    -> Bloodbath = Reduces Fury Cost to 10

    Seismic Slam = Deal 250% WepDam to enemies in a wide arc that hits targets up to 45 yds and knockbacks them away; 20 Fury Cost
    -> Stagger = 100% Chance to stun opponents for 1.5 seconds
    -> Shattered Ground = Deal 300% WepDam in a wide arc that hits targets up to 90 yds and knockbacks them away
    -> Rumble = Ground continues to shake after the seismic wave passes dealing 125% WepDam for 5 seconds in the area that the wave passed through
    -> Strength from Earth = Reduce Fury Cost to 10
    -> Cracking Rift = The wave is much more narrow, but deals 400% WepDam to compensate for 45 yds

    Whirlwind = Deal 150% WepDam while moving at your normal speed; 10 Fury Cost
    -> Dust Devils = Creates up to 3 smaller tornadoes in your wake that deal 75% WepDam over 3 seconds
    -> Hurricane = Reduces fury cost to 5
    -> Blood Funnel = Every hit heals you for 1% of your maximum life (Note: All hits, not just Crits)
    -> Wind Shear = Reduces movement speed of enemies hit by 50% for 3 seconds
    -> Volcanic Eruption = Cause enemies hit to be lit on fire suffering 60% WepDam over 6 seconds and causes them to flee in terror from you for 6 seconds

    ---------------------------------------------------
    3) Defensive Skills:
    NOTE: These skills no longer generate or cost no rage. Instead their abilities powers have been greatly increased to facilitate the cost. They've also had their cooldown removed to allow them to be used more often but the Fury Cost limits their total uses.

    Ground Stomp = Stuns all enemies within 15 yds for 2 seconds; 20 Fury Cost
    -> Deafening Crash = Enemies wander around aimlessly as if they were deaf (apply confused or blinded effect) for 5 seconds
    -> Wrenching Smash = Enemies are pulled closer before they are stunned. Pulls all enemies within 30 yds
    -> Trembling Stomp = Enemies take 150% WepDam from the Stomp
    -> Foot of the Mountain = Reduces the area of effect to 8 yds, but stuns opponents for 4 seconds
    -> Avalanche = Enemies are knockbacked 15 yds and are frozen solid for 3 seconds instead of being stunned

    Leap = Leap into the air dealing 125% WepDam to all targets at your destination within 12 yds and slowing their movement speed by 50% for 5 seconds follow the impact; 20 Fury Cost
    -> Iron Impact = Gain +75% Armor for each enemy hit for 5 seconds after the impact at your destination
    -> Launch = Allows you to travel up to twice as far than a normal leap
    -> Toppling Impact = Stuns and knockbacks targets at your destination point. Knockbacks 10 yds and stuns for 1.5 second
    -> Call of Arreat = Pulls targets at your destination point towards you within 24 yds
    -> Death from Above = You deal 350% WepDam to any target within 2 yds of your landing destination

    Sprint = Increase movement speed by 50% for 5 seconds; 20 Fury Cost
    -> Rush = Increases movement speed to 75% for 3 seconds (greater speed less duration)
    -> Run like the Wind = 3 Tornadoes appear in your wake that deal 50% WepDam over 2 seconds
    -> Marathon = Increases movement speed to 40% for 10 seconds (greater duration less speed)
    -> Gangway = Any targets hit will be knockbacked 8 yds and suffer 50% WepDam
    -> Forced March = Allies within 30 yds gain 50% movement speed for 5 seconds while your Sprint is active

    Ignore Pain = Resists 40% Damage for 5 seconds; 20 Fury Cost
    -> Bravado = All enemies within 12 yds, flee in terror from you for 5 seconds
    -> Iron Hide = Duration increased to 10 seconds
    -> Ignorance is Bliss = Gain 25% of ignored damage as life
    -> Mob Rule = Allies gain 40% Damage Resistance for 5 seconds while your Ignore Pain is active
    -> Contempt for Weakness = While Ignore Pain is active, you are immune to loss of control effects

    -----------------------------------------------------
    4) Might Skills:
    NOTE: These skills have had their cooldowns removed but also consume fury. Their greatly improved power more than makes up for the fury cost.

    Ancient Spear = Throw a spear dealing 125% WepDam pulling the target towards you and slowing the enemy's movement speed by 50% for 5 seconds; No cooldown; 10 Fury Cost
    -> Grappling Hooks = Throws 3 spears in a tight 15 degree arc (old was about 30 to 45 degrees) and each spear pulls targets towards you.
    -> Skirmish = After throwing the spear your movement speed is increased by 10% for 5 seconds
    -> Dread Spear = Deals 175% WepDam and instead of pulling targets towards you or placing a movement penalty on them, the target that is hit is instilled with great fear and flees in terror from you for 15 seconds.
    -> Harpoon = Pierce several targets in a 30 yd line and pull all of them towards you
    -> Rage Flip = An enemy hit with this rune active causes it to flip backwards and attacks former allies near it in a frenzied rage for 5 seconds.

    Revenge = Inflict 250% WepDam to all targets within 12 yds. Heal 5% HP for each enemy hit. 25% Proc chance; 10 Fury Cost
    -> Vengeance is Mine = Remove fury cost; 33% Proc Chance
    -> Best Served Cold = Increase your critical strike chance by 10% for 30 seconds.
    -> Retribution = Inflict 325% WepDam to all targets within 18 yds.
    -> Grudge = All targets you hit will be taunted into attacking you for 10 seconds
    -> Provocation = 50% Proc Chance

    Furious Charge = Rush forward at +100% movement speed for 1 second dealing 150% WepDam and knockbacking targets hit; 10 Fury Cost
    -> Battering Ram = Any targets that are hit, the knockback distance is tripled and the targets deal 100% WepDam to all enemies within 6 yds (including themselves) when they land
    -> Merciless Assault = Any targets hit take 225% WepDam and any creature killed with this rune active when you hit them cause you to automatically regain 5% of your maximum life per creature killed.
    -> Stamina = Rush forward at +100% movement speed for 2.5 seconds, increasing the total distance travelled
    -> Bull Rush = All targets hit instead of being knocked back are instead stunned for 2 seconds
    -> Dreadnought = You take no damage whatsoever during the entire attack animation.

    Overpower = Deal 200% WepDam to all targets within 12 yds; 10 Fury Cost
    -> Storm of Steel = Throw axes in every direction dealing an additional 50% WepDam to any target they hit and stunning targets for 1 second
    -> Killing Spree = Gain 10% Critical Chance for 15 seconds after use. Reusing skill refreshes the duration
    -> Crushing Advance = Become immune to movement impairing effects for 10 seconds after use
    -> Momentum = Gain 10% Increased Attack Speed for 15 seconds after use. Reusing skill refreshes the duration
    -> Revel = Gain 2.5% of your maximum HP for every enemy hit
    -----------------------------------
    5) Tactic Skills

    NOTE: Each of these has a 30 second cooldown. However each skill has been greatly increased in power to compensate for the cooldown. These skills should be used tactically, rather than used whenever.

    Weapon Throw = Throw an Axe at a single enemy dealing 350% WepDam and slowing their movement by 50% for 10 seconds; 30 Second Cooldown; 25 Fury Cost

    Threatening Shout = Shout with great ferocity affecting all targets within 60 yds causing them to deal 33% less damage for 30 seconds; 30 Second Cooldown; 25 Fury Cost

    Battle Rage = Induce yourself into a rage increasing damage dealt by +50%, while at the same time making it easier for enemies to land blows on you by reducing your dodge chance by -25% (min. 0% dodge) and both effects last for 2 minutes; 30 Second Cooldown; 25 Fury Cost

    War Cry = Unleash a rallying cry that affects all targets within 60 yds increasing their armor by 25% for 2 minutes; 30 Second Cooldown; 25 Fury Cost
    --------------------------------------
    6) Rage Skills:
    NOTE: These are considered ultimate skills. They have no fury cost, but they do have a long cooldown, so using them only when you need them is what they should be used for.

    Earthquake = Creates a massive shockwave that affects a 45 yd area and deals 500% WepDam for 10 seconds (each second it deals 500% WepDam) in this area. Enemies caught in the area are stunned for the entire duration of the effect; 5 minute cooldown

    Call of the Ancients = Summons forth the 3 Barbaric Champions that once guarded the worldstone keep entrance; These three barbarians have their own unique skill set that they use; Each deals 250% WepDam for the duration of the effect; they remain summoned for a total of 1 minute; 5 minute cooldown

    Wrath of the Berserker = Become a raging behemoth with an extreme damage boost of +100%, in addition to running faster at +25% movement speed, and your attack speed is increased by 25%. While raging, you are immune to all loss of control effects. However, you are in such a rage that you cannot use any skills except Primary skills.
    -------------------------------------
    Passive Skills:
    NOTE: Will most likely tweak some of these later. Bit late for me >.>

    Pound of Flesh = Grants a +33% chance of dropping a health orb, you gain 100% additional HP from globes and your healing potion cooldown is halved.

    Ruthless = Your critical strike chance is increased by 7.5% and your damage is increased by +50% when your health is below 20% of your maximum health

    Nerves of Steel = Your armor is increased by 100% of your Vitality and your block chance is increased by 10%

    Weapons Master = Swords/Daggers (+10% IAS), Maces/Axes (10% Critical Chance), Polearms/Spears (Ignores 10% of Armor of Target) and Mighty Weapons (Generates 5 extra fury and have +10% increased damage)

    Inspiring Presence = Increases radius of effect to 50yds, doubles duration of shouts, you and your allies regenerate 2% HP per second and your follower will fight with added fervor dealing an additional 50% damage on all their attacks.

    Berserker Rage = When you are at maximum rage, you become immune to mind control and fear effects and you take 20% less damage from all sources. The moment you consume any rage or lose it normally from inactivity, you lose these bonuses.

    Bloodthirst = Gain 4% of all damage dealt as Life

    Animosity = Increases fury generation by 33% and your maximum fury by 20.

    Superstitution = Reduces damage taken from non-physical sources by 33% but you cannot command the enchantress in battle as a follower due to your innate hatred for magic.

    Tough as Nails = Increases physical resistance by +50% and increases your thorns damage dealt by +100%

    No Escape = Weapon Throw and Ancient Spear deal an additional +100% WepDam. Achieving a critical hit with either of these abilities immobilizes a target for 3 seconds

    Relentless = When you are under 20% of your maximum health, you take 75% less damage from all sources and you become immune to movement impairing effects

    Brawler = As long as there is at least 3 enemies within 15 yds, your damage is increased by 50%

    Juggernaut = You are immune to all movement impairing, and control impairing effects. Having one of these effects applied to heal instantly heals 1% of your total health.

    Unforgiving = You no longer degenerate rage, but instead gain 2.5 fury per second

    Boon of Bul Kathos = WILL WORK ON AFTER PROVIDED INFO ON THE CHANGED SKILLS.
    ==========================================

    - Wizards -
    I am working on changes for the class. Please be patient while I put it together in a readable format.

    ==========================================
    Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion
  • 0

    posted a message on Patch 2.0: Moving forward with Improvements!
    NOTES:
    NOTE: Will use proper formatting later. Until then you can use CTRL + F with the name of the Section to jump to it. I will edit the post later with the WIP sections.
    NOTE2: I am one of many with Attention Deficit Disorder of ADD for short. As such my attention span for writing up this suggestion thread is fairly short (relatively) so I'll be working on it bit by bit.
    NOTE3: Will update the post with new suggestions and/or criticisms from the community related to this topic.
    NOTE4: I have been updating and correcting this thread regularly. Check back time to time and you may see new stuff, modified stuff or stuff that was removed.
    NOTE5: I will be moving a lot of the text into these handy spoilers so that people can CHOOSE what to read and what to not read, rather than scroll through a massive wall of text.
    NOTE6: Reworking Table of Contents.

    Table of Contents:

    * - FOREWORD -
    * - ABBREVIATIONS -
    * - FOLLOWERS -
    A] TEMPLAR
    B] SCOUNDREL
    C] ENCHANTRESS
    * - Barbarians - [WIP]
    * - Wizards - [WIP]
    * - Randomness - [WIP]
    * - Crafting Changes - [WIP]
    A] Class-Specific Crating
    B] Salvaging
    C] Guaranteed Affix Roll
    * - MF based Loot Tiers - [WIP]
    * - Gold Sinks for the Wealthy - [WIP]
    A] Incremental Auction House Fees
    B] Sparkly Dyes
    C] Temporary Buffs
    * - Affix Changes - [WIP]
    * - Unique Monster Changes - [WIP]
    * - Boss Changes - [WIP]

    ======================================

    - FOREWORD -

    I've been inspired to make a topic related to game improvement like many others here. Are my ideas the best? Probably not. Will they break things? Highly likely. Will it divide the playerbase? All the patches thus far have, so I'll say yes. Still, with all of these things in consideration, I still believe that I should try and get my ideas out there. Some of my ideas are rehashed / adapted ideas from other people, and others are completely my own. My hope is that Blizzard can use parts of ideas, the full idea for some of the ideas or all the ideas in implementing the best possible fixes for the playerbase.

    I am not trying to 1-up other forum posters related to the whole 2.0 topic. I'm just interested in getting my ideas heard. I'm building this thread over time because I have ADD and can't focus on it for long periods of time. Just saying. I state this because, it seems a lot of the posters seem to think that I'm trying to best other posters. This isn't my intent.

    I am interested in hearing your guys feedback. If you think one or more of my suggestions are terrible state so, and why you think so, or how you think it could be changed to be better. I will update my posts with changes, ideas, suggestions, and criticisms from people posting RELATED to THIS post.

    I'm also tired of being defensive or aggressive and I won't be responding anymore to posts not related to this topic.
    ======================================
    - ABBREVIATIONS -
    WepDam = Weapon Damage
    ======================================
    - Randomness -

    The game has been criticized a lot by the player base based on the randomness of maps, encounters, dungeon layouts, etc... I have several suggestions aimed at making the game feel more random. These are split up into two categories: Random Spawns and Densities. The purpose of the randomness is to remove the predictability of the game and maps and to encourage people to explore again.

    1) Elites / Goblin Density:

    NOTE: Originator is the original pack or goblin that this roll is being applied to.

    In order to get more monsters to spawn you could have an optional modifier that improves the chances of finding them and have a dropdown menu indicating which spawning options you would like to use. The modifiers run from 0 (Default) up to 50 (Maximum). If you wanted the spawning to occur you'd have to select which one to choose from:

    Extra Spawning (Spawn 1 to 2 Extra Elites or Goblins)
    Exotic Spawning (Spawn 1 Extra Elite pack or Goblin from another act)
    Abnormal Spawning (Causes Goblins or Elite Packs to be found in odd places)

    To determine if spawning occurs randomly choose a number from 1 to 100. In this example I will take Extra Spawning with no modifiers:

    1 to 99 = Normal Spawning
    100 = Extra Spawning

    Next with an optional modifier of 10:

    1 to 89 = Normal Spawning
    90 to 100 = Extra Spawning

    Next with an optional modifier of 50:
    1 to 49 = Normal Spawning
    50 to 100 = Extra Spawning

    Now to discuss what each category means:
    1) Extra Spawning = Creates an elite pack or goblin from the same act and from the same map right at the same spot for the originator. This is the Lore-Friendly version
    2) Exotic Spawning = Creates an elite pack or goblin from the next act (If Act 1, then it will spawn an Act 2 elite)
    3) Abnormal Spawning = Creates an elite pack or goblin from the same act and same map, BUT spawns it in a place where it would be unlikely to find it on the same map. Possible suggestions are:
    -> When you open a Resplendent Chest, a pack / goblin pops out instead of the loot
    -> When you smash a barrel/crate, a pack / goblin pops out instead of the content of the barrel/crate
    -> When you open a door, they pop out of the woodwork / stonework
    -> When you kill an enemy they pop out of its corpse
    NOTE: To make it more realistic for packs/goblins to pop out of objects or monsters, you should spawn packs that could fit inside the object in question. You could force a bunch of zombies into a barrel, or some imps, or some skeletons, for example, but trying to force a demon soldier into a barrel wouldn't be realistic. It may be better then to spawn only undead or smaller creatures from these barrels/crates.

    2) Dark Corners

    A way to encourage exploration of our environments rather than just hunt elites, uniques or bosses, there needs to be things of interest in dark corners occasionally. What you can find, should be very valuable to the seeker (else why would you bother checking, unless you are an explorer to the core and don't care what you find) otherwise most people wouldn't bother. I call these things dark corners because these are places on maps that are guaranteed to not have anything of value or minor in value. Each map could have several "dark corners" where there could be the possibility of finding something there. The chance to find something there is 10% (ie 1 to 89 = Nothing, 90 to 100 = Spawned Item) Things to put into dark corners:

    -> A random unique that spawns somewhere in the Act you are in.
    -> Two resplendent chests
    -> A portal to whimeyshire (could use the red portal from Act 4)
    -> Really random stuff: A duck, A gazebo, A garden gnome, etc... That when collected tell a short story.
    -> An unidentified legendary
    -> A butcher demon (Act 1 / 2)
    -> A siegebreaker demon (Act 3 / 4)
    -> Using creatures in the game as a homage to another game: A massive swarm of suicide fallen all bright green attending a "lemming" meeting discussing something about a door...
    -> Two treasure goblins beating eachother to death with their loot bags.

    Dark corners could be determined by:
    -> Places a hero would almost never check on a static map (ie the fallen bridge to the far left in Skeleton King's room)
    -> Corridor dead ends (once most heroes know its a deadend they turn around, particularly if in coop and the other guy finds the exit to the next area)
    -> Dungeons that normally have no loot in them to begin with (ie most dungeons in Act 4) and therefore aren't usually worth exploring.
    -> A lot of areas in maps that people hate exploring or being in in general (ie the spider caves in Act 1)

    Each dark corner when a map is entered would determine if anything appears in that corner. Can be quite scary turning a corner and finding a Butcher demon standing there. This would encourage exploration as you never know what is in those corners or niches, whether it is straight up valuable (ie two resplendent chests) or the possibility of valuable (ie killing a Butcher demon and having its loot drop)
    =============================
    - Crafting Changes -

    I see plenty of posts regarding ways of implementing new recipes, or new reagents to improve the crafting system. In reality, I do not think we need new recipes or more reagents. I think we need to fix the current recipes already in game, and if those were fixed there would be less need for MORE recipes. The other thing I've noticed a lot is that everyone is concerned about fixing the "endgame". Being that previous dungeon crawlers were the most fun (imo) when you levelled up characters, I'd think making changes to LV1-59 would be important. The great thing is, when you are making changes to help out those levels, the changes will help out LV60+ characters as well. The purpose of these changes is to make Crafting items a viable alternative to using the auction house to find upgrades. I think that the auction house should only be used for those items that are extremely rare to find, and the best in slot items, rather than any run of the mill item. I think that the run of the mill items should be self-found or crafted, and the best stuff traded for, like it was in Diablo 2.

    One of the basic problems with crafting is that it is TOO random and that the crafting is TOO expensive compared to shopping on the auction house. Considering that to get the materials to craft an item you must first salvage the materials and every blue item gives exactly 1 resource. So if the recipe requires 12 of these resources, you have to salvage 12 blue items to get it. Considering that the 12 blue items salvage into materials of FAR less overall value than the blue item, its doubly important for the player to get the best deal for their time and resources... and crafting doesn't quite do it. And then, the item requires further gold and possibly tomes to produce the item. The produced item is worth FAR less than the combined parts to make it. Its worth even less if it isn't an item you'd want. That doesn't make much sense that the combined parts cost more than the value of the final product.

    So my suggestions for Crafting are:

    -------------------------------------------

    1) Class-Specific Crafting = Make it so that any item created by a specific class will never roll attributes that are not important to that class. Example, a Barbarian whose main Stat is Strength, when they craft items they will never see INT or DEX on them but will see VIT occasionally, in addition to any class-specific things like Deals more damage with Magic Missile. This way if you are trying to be self-found your character can rely on their crafted goods to have Stats/Affixes that they'd want to have on it. Will not be a 100% foolproof system.

    -------------------------------------------

    2) Salvaging = Make changes to the salvaging process as follows:
    WHITE = Produces 1 Resource
    BLUE = Produces 2 to 4 Resources
    YELLOW = Produces 3 to 6 Resources + 1 to 3 Rare Resources
    GREEN = Produces 4 to 8 Resources + 2 to 5 Rare Resources + 1 to 2 Brimstones (or 1 to 2 Rare Resources if Non-Inferno)
    ORANGE = Produces 5 to 10 Resources + 3 to 7 Rare Resources + 2 to 4 Brimstones (or 2 to 4 Rare Resources if Non-Inferno)

    This will ensure that players will feel that they are making a valuable choice when salvaging items. As it is now, it costs a lot for a player to salvage items and then risk on an item that may not be interesting to them.

    My intent with the salvaging process is to make it something you don't do all the time. Since there is a great amount of loot right now that is relegated to trash status, we tend to salvage or sell a lot of stuff. If gear was improved, then people would be less inclined to salvage their items for materials. And when that happens, it will then mean that crafting items will be very difficult as you won't want to salvage items as much anymore.

    ----------------------------------------

    3) Guaranteed Affix Roll = This idea is around using up those rare resources and brimstones and putting them to good use. This would be a crafted item that guarantees a roll will occur for a specific affix. Having a lot of affixes fixed will require more of these items. Each tier of item (Norm/Night/Hell/Inferno) would have its own version of the item. I'll call the item the "fixer" as a placeholder. Fixing more than one affix will require more of them. Heres what I mean:

    Normal Fixer = Requires 4 Normal Rare Resources
    Nightmare Fixer = Requires 6 Nightmare Rare Resources
    Hell Fixer = Requires 8 Hell Rare Resources
    Inferno Fixer = Requires 8 Inferno Rare Resources + 1 Brimstone

    To fix an Affix Slot it requires:
    1 Fixer for first slot
    2 Fixers for second slot
    3 Fixers for third slot
    4 Fixers for fourth slot
    5 Fixers for fifth slot
    6 Fixers for sixth slot

    Ex. You want to have a ILV35 One-handed Sword with 3 affixes roll affixes as a you want. Since this is a Nightmare level sword it will require Nightmare Fixers. If you want to Fix one Affix it will require a single Fixer. If you want to fix two Affixes, it will require one fixer for the first slot and two fixers for the second slot for a total of Three Fixers to fix Two Affixes.

    This would allow players to pre-determine which affixes would roll on an item. It would also use up our supplies of Rare Resources and Brimstones. It would make crafting more reliable, if a fair bit more costly. It would also make it so that we can "control" the RNG of crafting better by using Fixers.

    NOTE: A great example of when using Affix Fixers would be great is when you go to craft your "first" Hellfire Ring. Being that it takes a long time to get the Infernal Machine recipe, and the keys to make the infernal machine, then getting all the right organs and then purchasing the Hellfire Ring recipe and then having the mats for the Hellfire Ring takes a lot of time and effort to do, just to have it "wasted" when the Hellfire Ring gets poor affixes. In this case, as people would be putting a lot of effort into making a single ring, the Fixer, would be able to guarantee (though not necessarily guarantee a good roll) affixes for the ring. Example:

    You have a current ring with CC and IAS on it and want your Hellfire Ring to have those as well. That requires having 3 Fixers (1st slot + 2nd slot) to ensure that CC and IAS will roll on the ring. There isn't a guarantee that the rolls for the affixes will be great, just that you will get CC and IAS to roll on it.
    ====================================
    - MF based Loot Tiers -

    NOTE: If this was applied it may make crafting items exploitable where a crafted item could roll near perfectly for its affixes by someone wearing enough MF gear /PLVs on MP 10 in town. This would be doubly important if the Fixers were implemented as well. I will be looking into ways of suggesting how to prevent crafting exploitation later (as in when I can think of a solution or someone suggests one)

    The basis behind this idea is to make items dropped at higher MF levels to have a dramatically higher chance of being well rolled. At 0% MF the game will randomly choose a number between the minimum value and the maximum value for an affix. At every 50% MF intervals it could increase the minimum value for the affix granting a higher probability of rolling a perfect roll. This would reward people with high MF from gear, paragon or MP level. It would also help to alleviate problems from itemization as a player with very high MF could directly impact the type of loot they could be receiving.

    NOTE: I'm unsure of what the "true" cap for MF is. If someone knows please point it out!

    Example: All Resistance Roll (71 - 80)
    0% MF = 71 to 80
    50% MF = 72 to 80
    100% MF = 73 to 80
    150% MF = 74 to 80
    200% MF = 75 to 80
    250% MF = 76 to 80
    300% MF = 77 to 80
    350% MF = 78 to 80
    400% MF = 79 to 80

    As you can see that the higher your MF is, the greater chance you will roll perfectly for that affix. This would make it so that well rolled items would be more common and people could truthfully expect the next great item to drop right around the corner.

    This system could also be applied to the crafting system where if you have a high MF percentage, any items produced would naturally roll higher due to having a higher minimum value. This could be put together with my previous suggestion (#3 Affix Fixers) where you fix the Affix and then when you craft the item with your high MF it will be crafted at a much higher quality.

    =================================
    - Gold Sinks for the Wealthy -

    I'm sure you are wondering why I called this section "for the Wealthy". Its quite simple. The gold sinks that have been made recently are for those with over excessive amounts gold lying around and wants to use it. Most people do not have this much gold, and may never have this much gold. So my proposition is to create gold sinks that will even out the gold supply to a more balanced level where everyone can benefit. Really the only reason to have 2 billion gold is to spend it on a 2 billion gold item. However, if all the prices are at 1 million gold for best in slot items, do you really need that 2 billion gold anymore? Probably not. So for my suggestions:

    1) Incremental Auction House Fees

    This idea is centered around making the GOLD auction house less cluttered and designed to remove items from the system. This idea is not referring to the RMAH, as it has been noted that this is most likely controlled by PayPal over the fees. Bear with me and read the entire idea FIRST before posting on it.

    So, first of all remove the current 15% Gold fee on all auctions. The first time you auction an item you do not suffer a fee for auctioning it. However, every time after the first auctioning the next player suffers a large gold fee for re-auctioning it at 25% Gold fee. If that player decides to do that and suffer that loss, then that is their choice. However, if the player that buys that item and tries to auction it, THEY will suffer a 50% Gold fee. If they choose to go that route, and someone buys it, then they want to auction it, they will suffer a 75% Gold fee. I'm sure you are getting the picture, eventually someone will get it and get no gold from the sale, at caps a 100% gold fee (where you are essentially posting it for free for purchase).

    Benefits:
    -> Auction flipping will be greatly reduced as the flipper will suffer a hefty loss to do it, particularly if the item has been auctioned before.
    -> The overall price of auctions will decrease as it will be far harder to amass large sums of gold to purchase higher rolled items.
    -> It will remove a lot of the items for the auction house as it will be unprofitable to try to sell an item that has been auctioned once or twice already.

    2) Sparkly Dyes:

    A lot of people are interested in having unique looking characters, so how about you create a dye of a specific color that sparkles, glimmers, or appears radiant. This would allow characters to look good, but would only be a cosmetic change. These sparkly dyes could be crafted at the Jewelcrafter by combining specific dyes together with specific high level gemstones. Basically I was thinking of doing something like:

    Flawless Star Gem + 10x Dye = Sparkly Dye

    So, sample recipes could be:

    Flawless Star Ruby + 10x Infernal Dye = Sparkly Red Dye
    Flawless Star Amethyst + 10x Royal Dye = Sparkly Purple Dye
    Flawless Star Topaz + 10x Golden Dye = Sparkly Gold Dye
    Flawless Star Emerald + 10x Forester's Dye = Sparkly Green Dye
    Flawless Star Emerald + 10x Abyssal Dye = Sparkly Black Dye
    Flawless Star Topaz + 10x Purity Dye = Sparkly White Dye
    Flawless Star Amethyst + 10x Mariner's Dye = Sparkly Blue Dye
    Flawless Star Ruby + 10x Lovely Dye = Sparkly Pink Dye

    This could consume some gold hoarded by players to give their character a more unique looking color to their characters. It would be costly, but not too costly, allowing other players to eventually work their way up to these dyes.

    Benefits:
    -> Will use up some gold in the system to provide an unique looking appearance for their heroes.
    -> It will also not be too costly, so other players with less gold lying around could still make use of it.

    3) Temporary Buffs

    To create a temporary buff you could craft it with Demonic Essences and Gold. Buffs would last about 1 Hour and do different things dependent on the buff. To make these buffs interesting for people to invest gold into, they should be able to do some significant things. Some temporary craftable buffs:

    1x Demonic Essence + 25,000 Gold = Speed Buff (Increases movement speed by +15%)
    2x Demonic Essence + 50,000 Gold = Pickup Buff (Increases pickup radius by +30)
    3x Demonic Essence + 75,000 Gold = Regeneration Buff (Heal 1% of HP per Second)
    4x Demonic Essence + 100,000 Gold = Loot Buff (MF and GF increased by +100%)
    5x Demonic Essence + 150,000 Gold = Attribute Buff (All Attributes (STR, DEX, INT, VIT) increased by +25%)
    6x Demonic Essence + 250,000 Gold = Avatar Buff (Take 33% less damage from all sources)

    These buffs could all have their potential usefulness. For example, the Avatar buff would work great against MP10 Infernal Machine bosses. The overall cost for each buff is debatable.

    4) Affix Addition

    This uses my idea for Affix Fixers and gives them a secondary use. For a fee and a set number of Affix Fixers you can add a single additional Affix, two additional Affixes or three additional Affixes for a greater incremental cost to add an addition Affix. Adding Affixes causes the item to become Binds on Account. These additional Affixes roll a random Affix that cannot be fixed, by other Affix Fixers. A regular leveling up character is unlikely to be able to afford these rates. A twink character owned by a wealthy LV 60, could pay these rates to twink out levelling gear for them. The inferno level items are broken up in ILVs.

    Normal-Difficulty Gear:
    -> 4 Normal Affix Fixers + 5,000 Gold = +1 Random Affix
    -> 12 Normal Affix Fixers + 15,000 Gold = +2 Random Affixes
    -> 24 Normal Affix Fixers + 30,000 Gold = +3 Random Affixes

    Nightmare-Difficulty Gear:
    -> 4 Nightmare Affix Fixers + 20,000 Gold = +1 Random Affix
    -> 12 Nightmare Affix Fixers + 60,000 Gold = +2 Random Affixes
    -> 24 Nightmare Affix Fixers + 120,000 Gold = +3 Random Affixes

    Hell-Difficulty Gear:
    -> 4 Hell Affix Fixers + 50,000 Gold = +1 Random Affix
    -> 12 Hell Affix Fixers + 150,000 Gold = +2 Random Affixes
    -> 24 Hell Affix Fixers + 300,000 Gold = +3 Random Affixes

    Inferno (60 to 61) Gear:
    -> 4 Inferno Affix Fixers + 100,000 Gold = +1 Random Affix
    -> 12 Inferno Affix Fixers + 300,000 Gold = +2 Random Affixes
    -> 24 Inferno Affix Fixers + 600,000 Gold = +3 Random Affixes

    Inferno (62 to 63) Gear:
    -> 8 Inferno Affix Fixers + 200,000 Gold = +1 Random Affix
    -> 24 Inferno Affix Fixers + 600,000 Gold = +2 Random Affixes
    -> 48 Inferno Affix Fixers + 1,200,000 Gold = +3 Random Affixes

    As you can see, for those that have great gear, or are having trouble buying new gear, this may give them an option to improve their gear further. Also binds item to account so that they cannot re-enter the economy with the added affixes.
    ===================================
    - Affix Changes -

    I am sure you are wondering what I mean by this section. My intent is to improve overall itemization by making certain affixes much more desirable. I doubt my suggestions will make any particular affix be a viable alternative to go the quintfecta (Main Stat, All Res, VIT, CC, CD or IAS) but, it would make the affix add to the overall quality of an item instead of detract from the quality of the item as it currently stands.

    The Affixes I'm referring to are:
    -> Life on Kill
    -> Health Orb Bonus
    -> Pickup Radius
    -> Thorns
    -> Single Resistance
    -> Chance to blind/bleed/stun, etc...

    -----------------------------------------
    1] Life on Kill

    Instead of having a static number, change it so that it provides a percentage of your maximum life as healing when you kill an opponent. This would allow the affix to scale better overall. People with a greater health pool will see a greater amount of healing overall.

    My change: 0.1% to 20.0% Maximum Life healed per Kill (Dependent on ILV)
    -----------------------------------------------------
    2] Health Orb Bonus
    --------------------------------------------------------
    3] Pickup Radius
    --------------------------------------------------------
    4] Thorns

    Allow thorns to do a percentage of your average wepdam per hit, rather than a fixed number. You could convert the current thorns damage into percentage damage as follows:

    1 (old) Thorns = 0.1% WepDam in Thorns Damage (new)
    1000 (old) Thorns = 100% WepDam in Thorns Damage (new)

    Building a class with excessively high thorns damage could make it a viable option for a Tanking build where the Thorns deals the majority of damage for them, BY being hit. Being that it is necessary to be hit in order to work would make it not be an ideal affix for those going glass cannon, as that build's primary weakness is low survivalability when being hit.
    ---------------------------------------------------------
    5] Single Resistance

    Single Resistance needs to be increased so that it is on par with +Armor and All Resistance. Currently the stat rolls too low. So...

    Change = Roll up to 120 for a single resistance, compared to 80 for all resistance.

    This change will make a single resistance on an armor piece make it look very appealing, and if it rolls very well, may even be better than some armors with all resistance on them.
    ===================================


    NOTE: I've run out of patience for now. MORE FOR LATER FOLKS! I WILL UPDATE IT!
    Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion
  • 0

    posted a message on Loot 2.0, discovering its true potential.
    I've read your other post in the past and really enjoyed it. Fully read this one and here's my take on it:

    Rarity of Legendaries and Legendaries in General:
    -> I think its a great idea to have the sparkle effect for a rarer legendary.
    -> However, the Legendaries as they stand right now aren't all that legendary. As this game is all about free sockets, weapon damage, main stat, CC, CD, and IAS because the Developers in their wisdom decided to make everything based off weapon damage, it makes a legendary item get regaled to trash status if it doesn't have these stats on them. Doesn't matter if it deals 1200 as a 2hander for DPS, but if it doesn't have a socket and either CD / IAS / Life Steal on it, it is usually not worth it. Which is why you don't see anyone running around with a Maximus. Coolish effect, but is regaled as trash because of lack of stats.
    -> So to truly make legendaries, legendary, they need to do something special that offsets not having the critical hit damage/chance or the IAS or the free socket, etc...
    -> As far as special runes for skills goes, I think it could work. I think it would be even more interesting IF you could have both runes active at the same time. Like for your Wind Chill Rune. I think that if you could have that active plus say Hurricane (move as your movement speed) it would make these legendary based skill runes even more potent as you could effectively have two runes active for the same skill. You could build a build around two active runes for the same skill, yah? Or even a legendary that allows you to use two runes of your choice for a given skill (ie Blood Funnel and Hurricane at the same time). This would make legendaries, legendary and offset the loss of either CD, IAS or even CC.

    Rewards for the Item Hunt for Legendaries
    -> Sounds like a great idea.
    -> I would prefer it to be more incremental however for the bonuses, so that EVEN if you only find one of the items in the set, you get something for it. Particularly if the item in question is useless to you and may not even sell on the AH.

    Magic Find
    -> I think that the magic find per stack is too low. Having it too low per stack means that if a player ever wants to reach the 500% maximum they'd have to play the game either on excessive MP levels and/or play for several hours on end. IF the game's item hunt was ABOVE STELLAR then I could see myself playing for 2-3 hours at a time, but without the item hunt this would be torture.
    -> Instead I think it should be:
    MP1 = 10% MP2 = 20% MP3 = 30% MP4 = 40% MP5 = 50% MP6 = 60% MP7 = 70% MP8 = 80%
    MP9 = 90% MP10 = 100%
    -> Why so high? Well I have attempted MP 10 on my Barbarian (about 190k buffed DPS) and it took me about 12 minutes to take down a single pack. Since everything has so much more HP and damage on the higher MP levels, it should reward you with requiring FAR fewer stacks to reach the cap. As it takes over 10 times the time to kill a single pack it should reward you for your effort.

    Crafting
    -> I think that salvaging items should net more rewards. Considering that a higher quality item will produce the same number of materials as a poorer quality item, doesn't make much sense. (ie A grandfather produces the same mats as a pair of Depth Diggers). I think that to improve salvaging that they should make higher tiered items salvage into more materials.
    -> I think that the current crafting system should be FIXED before they go on to add new recipes and the like. The majority of recipes available pre-patches do not provide very good items for the materials invested in them. The newer recipes gives a decent risk vs reward system. The old recipes are high risk low return. I think they should buff up all the older recipes so that a player could be self-found for all their lower levels by crafting their own equipment. As someone who has played Vanilla WoW (haven't touched it for years) I was used to being self-found and crafting my own gear. When I got to Diablo 3 and heard you could craft your own gear I was so happy until I say what the system was like. Salvaging produces far too few materials, the gold cost is excessive for a low-level starting out, and the item produced is too heavily random that it is frustrating. Think of this: A barbarian trying to craft a pair of shoulders and instead of getting STR or VIT, they keep getting INT or DEX, with low rolls on that that makes them not worthy of being sold.
    -> I think that crafted legendaries should get a major buff in power to make them comparable to other legendaries OR give them something special.
    -> As cool as it would be to get a rare crafting material from a purple guy that is bind on account; is a terrible idea. Do you know that for some uniques, it is next to impossible to get them to spawn? Like take Bashiok. I've run through the entire Oasis over 100 times and never had him spawn (I still have the Rakinishu blade that I want to use on him). This would be a good idea IF and only IF one of the rare uniques that would spawn in an area is guaranteed to spawn in that area for every game. Otherwise this would make things onerously annoying. Having more of the purple uniques spawn in general would make getting the achievement less onerous as well.
    -> I agree that making all gemstones be able to drop would be muchly appreciated. I've been playing since launch and have never had more than 5 million gold at a time, and haven't been able to get any good items to drop to sell, so having top tiered gems is impossible for me (I'm not referring to the Marquise... I think that should remain as a gold sink). Making only one type of gem drop in the first three difficulties is a great idea... plus I never really stock up on the lower ones anyways. Like when I see a flawless square something drop these days I don't bother picking it up as it doesn't sell well AND it takes 10,000s of gold to make it into something useful. And as for those that say that I should then play more to get more gold, my response is that I have better things to do with my time these days than play a game that doesn't reward we well for my time. EVEN Dark Souls in all its frustrating moments rewards me better for my time than Diablo 3 does.

    I hope that blizzard takes some of your things into consideration, but if they are going to remove MF totally and place all the burden on NV, I would like to see the amount per stack increased heavily... as we currently get 15% MF per stack, and if I now have to kill 15 packs to get the same effect on MP1 I'm not going to play Diablo 3 anymore. You also neglected to mention how much MF you get on MP0? Do you get 0% MF for the stacks?
    Posted in: Diablo III General Discussion
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