In Diablo II, Teleport was one of the well-known abused skills, and not just by its innate character, but by anyone that could make or afford an Enigma. It allowed characters to zip through dungeons and overworlds in a matter of seconds, passing through walls, over trenches, and past enormous mobs of enemies in less time than it takes to click the mouse button.
Hacks aside, its power is unreal:
Now, in Diablo III, the skill is being re-engineered. Ideas such as a nine-second cool down timer, longer than any timer in Diablo II, are being juggled around. But is this really a bad way to go with the skill?
Some other things should be taken in to consideration, such as skill point allotment and the equipping of skill runes, the latter of which has never been a consideration in older games. Or, at least, that is the best of what Bashiok had to offer:
Official Blizzard Quote:
In general most people seem to be concerned with the cooldown on teleport as it relates to other skills. As some have pointed out, the game isn't finished. Cooldown times, damage amounts, etc. are all sort of best guesses at this point as to what will be close to balanced. It likely won't be. Not until all the classes are implemented and the majority of skills are nailed down can we start finalizing runes and balancing the skills.
As usual, the typical has been pointed out, such as the fact that a release date has not yet been announced for the game and, as such, we may still have a while to go before anything is final.
Are these concerns limited only to Teleport this time around, though? It would seem that fans are worrying about any mobility skill, including the Barbarian's Leap skill, a return from Diablo II's Barbarian (see here). One would wonder whether or not similar limitations will or should be applied to this skill, as well, or if things such as Faster Cast Rate would affect it.
At this point, most anything shown is still up for a massive amount of renovation and reworking, but maybe getting our thoughts on to the table sooner rather than later would be a good idea.
(See here for Bashiok's full reply.)
If there is a maze-like act in Diablo 3 and I don't have a way for my character to easily maneuver through it, I will quit playing it.
I remember thinking-in fact, still think- that the concept of Teleport as a skill in Diablo II was underworked. If it was a more intuitive system- actually, this would take nothing more than a patch to fix- Teleport would be based on FCR per skill level. Mana is almost irrelevant in the end game.
Hmm, I rather like that idea.
Only problem I can see arising is in duels, like in D2 you will simply be able to teleport out of range over and over again.
I'd say use the system you recommend, cept add in a +4 or so cooldown timer when enemies are nearby.
A teleport like D2 will never be balanced. The question I ask is, should a new skill that allows you to move around faster be spammable and become your primary means of traveling? What happened to your legs?
But that you can travel fast is the least of my concern. All those abilities come with such big impact on the game, completely changing your position in a Flash. In the case of teleport, its flawless, goes exactly where you want, no matter what. This is big.
But I guess this topic is just about what we think, so, do we agree. In my opinion, these limits are a must. No limits, and you get a broken game.
Sounds like a fair trade. :3
BTW, tele with multistrike rune looks really awesome.
I was referring to the rushing part of it as seen in the video. But yeah, it does have a big effect on single player when it comes to escaping a bad situation.
What I do have an interest in are tedious level designs. Diablo 2's only problem is Act 3. It was terrible. The random layout nature coupled with the fact that generally only one path worked (and, generally, that one path was incredibly unintuitive, hidden, or just in a bad spot) just made the act terrible.
The only remedy was Teleport. Or Barbarian jump. That worked.
Here's the thing. I don't care how long the cooldown for teleport is as long as nothing in the world is like Act 3. I don't want a jungle unless it's wide open OR it has multiple branching paths that lead to the same area. I don't want mazes unless the maze is more of an aesthetic than a puzzle (Titan Quests Minoan Labyrinth as an example).
All I want is a game that lacks those things. Without them you can do away with teleport. With them then I better get an instant cast teleport with no cooldown time that takes so little mana that my natural mana regen will be more than enough to take me across the terribleness that is that area. That's all.
By the way, any argument against teleport that uses D2 as an example is fundamentally flawed. This is a different game. To expect the same mechanics to occur in a sequel to a game that is almost 10 years old is stretching it a good deal.
Edit: Of course there will be exploits that people will find and abuse. That happens to all games. Period. Putting artificial limits on things because someone might exploit something is poor. The game should be about fun, not about putting limits on what others can do.