Looking at the other stuff, it looks like they are removing the stack dependency, so as long as SW is active, you get a flat 50% DR.
- P4_ItemPassive_Unique_Ring_044 Your damage taken is reduced by [{VALUE1}*100]%
for each stack ofwhile Sweeping Windyou haveis active.
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I wish they would have just fixed some of the many bugs that were making it over perform first, and then saw where it was. While it can certainly still compete with other classes/sets, it's with yet another great at AOE sucks at STD build. My hope was that they would find a way to make IK a good STD/moderate AOE set, and allow for multiple different builds to be effective-ish (I really want HotA and SS to be viable).
Instead, it doesn't really give a much different feel than Reakor, at least to me. I hope they re-revise the set. It certainly was way to powerful in the last iteration, but I feel like they could have brought it inline with other sets without ruining the viability of some of those other skills.
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Yeah. It has a lot to do with the double dipping on leg gems, bloodshed, and slaughter.
There are a few things that probably weren't intended to benefit from the 500% bonus that are, and that really skews how much damage the set does. Once those things get fixed, then players can test again and see if it's still out of tune.
It's certainly broken in it's current state. I just don't think that a change from 500% to 100% is the answer. I think it's more about finding some of the things that are benefiting that shouldn't be, and then checking again. My guess is that at least basic builds (WW, SS, HotA, AS) will end up being more or less in tune at that point. If the set got nerfed to 100%, many of the spenders just wouldn't be worth it.
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The issue here is that there are a couple of very specific builds that are able to do those high Grifts, and then a bunch that fall closer in line with other classes. Those builds usually revolve heavily around a skill that already has a set (FC) and it's complementary legendary. Also, because it's non-specific, that 500% ends up counting for leg gems and stuff, which other set bonuses do not.
If they narrow the bonus to some skills (SS. HotA, AS, CotA), then we can see if 500% is still to much. If it is, my bet is that it can be tune to like, 400% and be fine. I ran a HotA build with the new IK, and while it was good (with really good gear), it certainly didn't feel much stronger than M6 (which is the build I use to compare to).
This gives the set some flexibility, but reduces the damage of skills that have sets (WW, FC) so that IK just isn't better with them.
The other option is to break the bonus into 2 bullets:
- While WotB and CotA are active, gain 100% increased damage
- While WotB and CotA are active, also gain 300-400% increased damage from SS, HotA, AS, and CotA.
This maintains some flexibility, while bringing the outlier builds closer in tune,
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Differing loot tables aren't bad, it's just that they invite a particular gameplay that certain people may not like (much like every other design decision).
For me, I wouldn't want differing loot tables because I would then feel compelled to farm a very specific monster/area (in the case of the OP suggestion, act) to get the item I want, thus making for a very boring play session. While rifts can feel monotonous, they do have varied monster types and layouts, which individual acts have less of (which is why bounties get boring for me very quickly).
Having different drop tables could also have an undesirable effect on multiplayer. If the item I really want to farm is on the Act 3 drop table (and thus that's the best way for me to get it), and my buddy really needs some item from Act 5, we have to sacrifice each other's efficiency at getting the item we are each looking for, in order to play together. So we either don't play together specifically because the drop tables are different, or we play together, and have a lower chance of finding the items we want in a given play session.
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I’ve been thinking a lot about set design and the rationale behind it recently, and since there are so many set changes coming in 2.2, I figured now is as good a time as any to share. I’m sure someone has suggested this before, but I’ve not seen it suggested with a large explanation, so I figured I’d put it out there.
Currently most 6-piece sets only have 6 pieces, meaning your options are to wear all 6 pieces of gear, or swap in RORG and wear 5. This, to me, limits gearing options quite a bit, and in many cases makes RORG feel mandatory, as some legendary affix on an overlapping piece far outweighs the cost of a ring slot (cindercoat/Prides fall for live M6 builds). This type of issue may only get worse as more armor with legendary affixes are added to the game.
Suggestion:
I like the idea of keeping sets at the 2/4/6 bonuses, because then they can be powerful, as you have to take up 6 slots in order to get 3 legendary bonuses. The opportunity cost makes sense. What I don’t like, is that sets have so few pieces that gearing starts to feel very pigeon-holed. You have one set slot that you can choose to not use, and that’s at the cost of a ring slot. I don’t mind having to make choices (in fact I encourage designs to be that way), but I feel the current set up is just too restrictive.
The suggestion I have is to normalize the slots that sets come on, and then make each set take the same 8 pieces(gloves, shoulders, helm, torso, belt, pants, boots, bracers). I like this 8-slot set-up because each set becomes an “armor set”, making it thematic. . The goal of this is two-fold:
The idea here is that by having all sets use all the same slots, we know that the best a player can do for combining sets is to get the 4-piece bonus of two sets (or the 2-piece bonus of 3, if they so choose). So we know that the 6-piece bonuses will be mutually exclusive. We also know that if they choose to use the 4-piece bonus of 2 sets, they have to either use all 8 armor slots, or use 6 of them, and then use the RORG. This allows a lot of flexibility, but still offers the developers ways some knowns for balance purposes.
When the goal is to only use one set, the player has a choice of which set slots to fill, and which ones to put legendaries in, as well as the choice to give up a ring slot for an additional legendary in an armor slot. My hope here, is that as new powerful rings are added, RORG won’t feel so mandatory for all set builds, but offers the flexibility in case a player wants it.
As new legendaries are added to the game, the hope is that a group of legendaries should be able to compete with sets, so that players have options. Set’s could be the quickest path to power, and then as a player collects some of the rarer legendaries, they will have the option to forgo a set and build around a group of legendaries. This, in my opinion, would make the game fun for both casuals and hardcore gamers alike.
An Example
For this example, I’m going to use the current PTR version of the IK set bonuses:
(2) Set Bonus: Call of the Ancients lasts forever
(4) Set Bonus: Call of the Ancients' melee attacks deal 600% weapon damage in a 15 yard radius
(6) Set Bonus: The duration of your Wrath of the Berserker is increased by 0.25 seconds each time an Ancient deals damage
The first thing that would need to be done for my suggestion, is to change the pieces around, so that it matches the 8-piece configuration I talked about earlier. The IK boulder breaker (the weapon), can be converted to a regular non-set legendary (see BK set and BK ring for precedence).
There are currently 2 legendaries is the updated set slots that synergize with an IK build: taskers and the all-rune WOTB pants. In this model, a player will likely choose to wear both in conjunction with the set. To create more choice, more legendaries could be created that create competition. Let’s say that the following legendaries are created:
Now, there is a lot of choice to be made. There are plenty of standard legendaries in the bracer slot that are helpful (reapers wraps, strongarms, Pathan defenders), there are barb-only belts and witching hour, there are the WOTB pants, taskers, etc. There’s always the option to use RORG and use 3 of these, sacrificing a ring slot for it.
At the same time, a build becomes possible without using the full set. A player could choose to use only the 2-piece bonus of IK (belt/shoulders), and then use taskers, the new helm, new torso, new boots, reapers wraps, WOTB pants, to create a build for which most of the damage comes from the barbarian, and the ancients are mostly there for the damage buff to HOTA, with some bonus passive damage.
There are a bunch of choices to be made here, allowing for a lot of interesting combinations. While I’m sure a “best build” for end-game would emerge from this set-up (because math always points to a best build), at least players would have options that look to be T6 efficient at the very least.
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My best guess is that the next content patch after 2.2 (the one between season 3 and 4), will update the remaining sets ( Vyr's, EQ, helltooth, jade, etc) and add an additional set to the remaining classes (perhaps 2 for the sader), so that each class has 4 sets.
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I tried with the following gear setups:
Inna's + crudest boots
Inna's + FOE
Inna's + Torch
And I tried all of that both with and without Wuko. Though what I was most focused on was how it performed without it.
For skills, I basically tried everything for about a rift, since this is the set I wanted to be good.
I ran FOE with sudden assault (with WOL: plillar during the down time). I tried with a bunch of supporting skills set ups (combinations of allies, runes of epiphany, EP, etc). Without the wuko buff, EP feels so underpowered. Then I ran FOE with incinerate, with both WOL fire rune and LTK.
Then I went all-in on Torch and ran pillar, and then switched in all the skills the the allies can do (CS, EP) in various combinations.
Ultimately, the damage potential just doesn't enough, at least that I could find. I realize that with the mantra bonuses from (2) and (4) give it some defensive bonuses, and thus it probably shouldn't do exactly as much damage as wuko (or M6 or other full damage sets), but the damage is so low that it's kind of laughable.
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sidenote: I like how they added 2 new pairs of gloves without legendary powers.
Thanks for the info bagstone.
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In my testing last night, I was pretty underwhelmed with the new Inna's bonuses, at least on their own. I was running it with Wuko, so it was just extra damage, but when I tried it on it's own, to get a feel for it's power on it's own, it felt pretty mediocre.
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True about using all runes. I was thinking of something possibly like vile wards do for charge, where the damage increases for enemies hit. Wouldn't be great for guardians/single targets, but would be fun for super AOE.
Alternatively, something like Liquirius suggested, and have it scale based on distance travelled. Which creates an interesting positioning meta.
Basically, it just needs something that makes it worth the large cost in AP. I wouldn't be totally opposed to something like the monk torch, but I think they can come up with something more interesting.
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Yeah. Arcane Orb needs a legendary that makes it more viable, or needs a flat out buff, so that it's damage is worth the arcane cost.
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I'm not sure it'll be DPS competitive with an M6 DH, as I think it will be balanced around the fact that it has some CC capability. If the set is similar to how it was a BlizzCon, with the slow time wand and the helm from Blizz con, you will be able to spam the screen with bubbles, which will stun and then slow enemies. With that utility, I doubt it'll be balanced to do as much damage as M6.
It could be that the changes to Tal Rasha's though, will make the Wizard DPS competitive with M6 DH's. Giving them a build that has utility and a build that does damage.
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You basically just have to rift fish for the right guardian. Any that spawn adds are pretty good, as you can use them to EP explode for large chunks of the guardians health. The other thing is pylons. Getting a Power pylon to increase damage AND getting a RG that spawns adds for power pylon EP, is basically the strat after a certain point.
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There are few things they can do to allow more diversity:
1) Decrease sets to 4 or 5 pieces max
2) Move to RORG bonus to paragon and have it cost 100 or more points.
3) Make all sets have n+1 pieces (much like Firebirds)
4) move legendaries with synergy to non-set pieces.
Any of those, or all of those could help with the issue. The problem is that if sets are the way to power (like they are currently are) then RORG is mandatory in circumstances (like all WD sets) where the legendaries that have good synergy with the set overlap with one of the pieces.
It does suck though, that even if you only use one set, it's often still pretty required to use RORG, as not using results in a HUGE efficiency loss.
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Fair enough.