After watching countless PvP matches from Blizzcon 2010, I've come to realize that the Wizard's Disintegrate skill is completely out of place. The first time I saw Disintegrate, I was thinking to myself *Cyclops from X-Men*. Just the way it fires so effortlessly, already makes it seem like an overpowered skill, and one that doesn't fit into Diablo at all.
I'll attempt to characterize the Disintegrate skill right now in it's current state, and why I think its faulty in design:
1) Disintegrate takes almost no time to reach its enemy. I know Disintegrate is supposed to replicate a laser, but if you pay close attention to the PvP battles, the Wizard is able to click anywhere on the screen, and hit the target almost immediately with the skill. Makes it seem "cheap", and almost TOO easy to use.
BUT NOT ONLY THAT...
2) Disintegrate moves exactly how your cursor moves. There's absolutely no delay. It almost seems like the disintegrate skill is just a perfect extension of your cursor. Wherever you click, the laser follows. If you release the trigger, it immediately stops. You move your cursor 1 inch left, the laser does too. You swing it around in a wild circle? So does the laser. In short, it's pinpoint accurate. Ultimately, the laser loses its character and really feels less "awesome" than it should be. To characterize it better, Disintegrate in its current state, feels like you're using a small keychain laser pointer that you bought at the thrift store, rather than the Überlaser that it's supposed to depict.
Furthermore, in its current state, Disintegrate almost seems too boring. Yes boring. It takes no skill to aim it, and you don't have to time the spell at all. You just point, click, and follow your enemy around with your cursor.
Suggestions:
1) If Blizzard wants to keep the "constant beam" look/feel to it, then make the beam not so responsive to cursor movement. For example, when you move your cursor to the side, the beam will not immediately follow, but will have a small delay before it actually follows to where your cursor is. Firing a giant beam of laser should feel like it's a "difficult" task, and not a walk in the park. So placing a small delay in the reaction time of the beam will effectively give the feeling that the laser is difficult to control.
2) Make the Disintegrate fire in "bursts" instead of a constant beam of light. A good example of what it could possibly look like is a "hadouken" (from Street Fighter), except make the beams a bit longer to give it the characteristics of a "laser beam". This way, it'll make the Disintegrate skill less boring, and you will need to time your attacks better. This would get rid of the current style of holding down your mouse button, and simply following your opponent with your cursor.
I actually think Disintegrate is okay the way it is, it's probably the weakest skill the wizzard has, and the lazer is really thin and isn't really constant damage, i think there is a 2 sec gap between each damage taken from Disintegrate, and the damage wont increase if the person escape the lazer? i think that is what the team told us in one of the blizzcons.
I mean yes it is a boring skill to use but its also pretty weak, I'm sure the Wizzard wont be able to survive that long if they choose to use Disintegrate all the time, simply because it will take them too long to kill anyone.
I feel like if the beam would not be suddenly summoned as a complete straight line of fire but rather gradually expand from the Wizard's hands, it would look alot better.
It does take skill because you have to name lock to even hit the guy. Also look at how many shots it takes to damage the barbarian with it, in my opinion it's garbage as is. You won't have the 10+ seconds to sit around and charge that up in a real PvP scenario so no one in high play will use it beside chip damage.
So are we talking about... "This skill is OP for PvP, nerf it for the whole game?" I say hell no, PvP doesn't deserve ANY mechanic changes that affect PvE for balance sakes.
It doesn't even look unbalanced at all anyway, and it looks fun. At least, in PvE it does, and I don't want shit to be changed WoW-Arena style while ruining the rest of the game.
I just want to clarify that Blizzard had said at blizzcon that in no way did they want PvE to be affected by PvP imbalance. So if disintegrate is too over-powered in the arena, it's going to stay that way because it is straight awesome in PvE.
Don't forget spells also have resource costs. I sincerely doubt that you'll be able to just sit back and channel Disintegrate all day long. Maybe 10sec tops I'd say, and after that you're completely out of AP, so you're at a disadvantage from using it the entire duration anyway.
But I think my issue with Disintegrate is in the way the spell feels. From a design standpoint, swinging your cursor around in circles, and having Disintegrate do the exact same thing feels awkward really. How does your character pivot that fast while firing a huge laser? Seems unrealistic.
I think it would look a lot better if it were more like a "whip", as in the beam follows the cursor with a slight delay, and the laser wasn't so easily controlled. Like what maka said in the post above, it looks too much like a 2d shooter at this point. The laser seems very effortless to move.
Yeah that's kinda what I was thinking lol. Not only would that solve the problem, but there's no real other options.
Jay already said every skill in PvM would be in PvP, so they're not taking it out.
They could decrease the range in which the skill can travel, though I'm decent sure that's already part of the traits of the skill as you level it up.. Don't quote me on that..
The other tips offered in posts are viable, but cause new problems, thus is the nature of the beast though.
So really damage modification, and or mana cost (I forget what it's called for the Wizard) are the only sure fire options I see. Though I'm open for ideas I'm missing!
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this skill, to me, is perfect for scenarios where small fast accurate damage is needed. this skill looks like its the only one the wizard has in its chain (for that purpose).
Seems like they have reduced the damage enough to keep it only useful in those scenarios too.
I think its way to earily to call. u can start making calls on skills being op in beta, when blizz are really working on balancing and touching up class's. I was under the illusion that every character at blizzcon only have a limited number of abilities anyway so i dont think we have a lot to compare it with. let alone as people have mentioned the characters were at low lvls with more traits than ususal and out of wack.
Pretty sure blizzcon was just to showcase diablo 3 and the ideas they have, and giving people a taste of the game.
I think the main problem the OP has with the skill is not necessarily how powerful it is. He has a problem with the looks and mechanic of the skill.
Look wise, his issue is that it doesn't feel organic. The fact that she able to conjure this giant beam of energy without any hesitation is the issue. It looks more like she is firing a laser gun than summoning this energy through her hands.
Mechanic wise, there is little strategy to it. Just point and click. It reminded me that they said at one point there was a barb skill where you spun the mouse around in a circle to target some moe like the barb was actually spinning.
As small as it is, I do agreethat adding some small delay/whip effect to the laser would go a long way in polishing this skill.
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how about instead of a delay/whip effect, just make her pivot speed greatly reduced. Delay/whip will make it too confusing to use. Reduction in pivot speed will make it not only more realistic, but more accurate, as you would expect with such a spell.
The Disintegrate skill would definitely be enhanced with the "pivot" speed being slowed down a bit, like duffman said.
For example: Pretend the laser being fired is object A. And your cursor is object B. Between object A & B, there exists a rubberband. Whenever B moves, A follows, with a rubberband effect. The reaction speed is thus reduced, and will make people think twice about aiming the skill the wrong way, and doing a complete 180 in order to hit their target (as seen in many of the PvP videos from Blizzcon 2010).
The skill will still be effective this way, but it will make controlling the skill much more involved, since the reduced pivot speed isn't based on twitch reflexes. It's based more on aiming and timing.
For example: Pretend the laser being fired is object A. And your cursor is object B. Between object A & B, there exists a rubberband. Whenever B moves, A follows, with a rubberband effect. The reaction speed is thus reduced, and will make people think twice about aiming the skill the wrong way, and doing a complete 180 in order to hit their target (as seen in many of the PvP videos from Blizzcon 2010).
What would keep me from cancelling the original laser, move instantly to the new location and starting a new laser? Cooldown?
I have, as said before, played this class and skill and can with a completely honest mind say it is not overpowered in speed, damage or mobility.
Easy. That's when resource elements come into play.
Blizzard can easily implement a higher initial Arcane Power cost for casting Disintegrate, say 50 Power to initiate. Then for the remaining seconds, it can be a constant 20 Power/sec. This would make the player think twice about spamming the skill with multiple clicks.
Edit: Or they could put a slight cooldown on the skill (2-3 seconds), as you mentioned.
To fix the problem of the beam just appearing when you click, the wiz could do the Kamehameha type thing when you first click, for a small delay, that would be awesome.
Well a delay like that could also make the spell somewhat useless in PvP. If someone sees you winding up, they just get out of line of sight and you don't do any damage. I think what it should be is something like the further you aim from where you start firing it, the 'harder' it is to aim the spell so your character rotates slower. Like in a 90 degree angle in front of the Wizard, you can move pretty freely, then from 90-180 degrees its doable but only a bit faster than a character's movement, so you would have to be tracking the character the whole way with pretty good accuracy, and then the 180 degrees behind where you fired its harder to use. The slowing effect could also be a good thing to have a rune effect for. That way, you can't just spin in circles and destroy monsters, but its still good for sweeping along large groups.
I see it as underpowered, if your using desint, your pretty much using desint
if you use other skills you can cast them, have them do their thing( Possible AOE DOTS?), run away, cast another one,
with desint you pretty much have to be standing there casting desint, and not much of any thing else, your a sitting duck, and your not using diversity ei several spells being in play at the same time.
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If you watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0buFfm7xqE you'll see what I'm talking about.
It reminds me of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyuNidSrVik
I'll attempt to characterize the Disintegrate skill right now in it's current state, and why I think its faulty in design:
1) Disintegrate takes almost no time to reach its enemy. I know Disintegrate is supposed to replicate a laser, but if you pay close attention to the PvP battles, the Wizard is able to click anywhere on the screen, and hit the target almost immediately with the skill. Makes it seem "cheap", and almost TOO easy to use.
BUT NOT ONLY THAT...
2) Disintegrate moves exactly how your cursor moves. There's absolutely no delay. It almost seems like the disintegrate skill is just a perfect extension of your cursor. Wherever you click, the laser follows. If you release the trigger, it immediately stops. You move your cursor 1 inch left, the laser does too. You swing it around in a wild circle? So does the laser. In short, it's pinpoint accurate. Ultimately, the laser loses its character and really feels less "awesome" than it should be. To characterize it better, Disintegrate in its current state, feels like you're using a small keychain laser pointer that you bought at the thrift store, rather than the Überlaser that it's supposed to depict.
Furthermore, in its current state, Disintegrate almost seems too boring. Yes boring. It takes no skill to aim it, and you don't have to time the spell at all. You just point, click, and follow your enemy around with your cursor.
Suggestions:
1) If Blizzard wants to keep the "constant beam" look/feel to it, then make the beam not so responsive to cursor movement. For example, when you move your cursor to the side, the beam will not immediately follow, but will have a small delay before it actually follows to where your cursor is. Firing a giant beam of laser should feel like it's a "difficult" task, and not a walk in the park. So placing a small delay in the reaction time of the beam will effectively give the feeling that the laser is difficult to control.
2) Make the Disintegrate fire in "bursts" instead of a constant beam of light. A good example of what it could possibly look like is a "hadouken" (from Street Fighter), except make the beams a bit longer to give it the characteristics of a "laser beam". This way, it'll make the Disintegrate skill less boring, and you will need to time your attacks better. This would get rid of the current style of holding down your mouse button, and simply following your opponent with your cursor.
I mean yes it is a boring skill to use but its also pretty weak, I'm sure the Wizzard wont be able to survive that long if they choose to use Disintegrate all the time, simply because it will take them too long to kill anyone.
It doesn't even look unbalanced at all anyway, and it looks fun. At least, in PvE it does, and I don't want shit to be changed WoW-Arena style while ruining the rest of the game.
But I think my issue with Disintegrate is in the way the spell feels. From a design standpoint, swinging your cursor around in circles, and having Disintegrate do the exact same thing feels awkward really. How does your character pivot that fast while firing a huge laser? Seems unrealistic.
I think it would look a lot better if it were more like a "whip", as in the beam follows the cursor with a slight delay, and the laser wasn't so easily controlled. Like what maka said in the post above, it looks too much like a 2d shooter at this point. The laser seems very effortless to move.
Yeah that's kinda what I was thinking lol. Not only would that solve the problem, but there's no real other options.
Jay already said every skill in PvM would be in PvP, so they're not taking it out.
They could decrease the range in which the skill can travel, though I'm decent sure that's already part of the traits of the skill as you level it up.. Don't quote me on that..
The other tips offered in posts are viable, but cause new problems, thus is the nature of the beast though.
So really damage modification, and or mana cost (I forget what it's called for the Wizard) are the only sure fire options I see. Though I'm open for ideas I'm missing!
found it....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNVSsE5RJVc
fast forward to 12:00
Seems like they have reduced the damage enough to keep it only useful in those scenarios too.
Pretty sure blizzcon was just to showcase diablo 3 and the ideas they have, and giving people a taste of the game.
Thanks Caniroth for the awesome sig!
Look wise, his issue is that it doesn't feel organic. The fact that she able to conjure this giant beam of energy without any hesitation is the issue. It looks more like she is firing a laser gun than summoning this energy through her hands.
Mechanic wise, there is little strategy to it. Just point and click. It reminded me that they said at one point there was a barb skill where you spun the mouse around in a circle to target some moe like the barb was actually spinning.
As small as it is, I do agreethat adding some small delay/whip effect to the laser would go a long way in polishing this skill.
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For example: Pretend the laser being fired is object A. And your cursor is object B. Between object A & B, there exists a rubberband. Whenever B moves, A follows, with a rubberband effect. The reaction speed is thus reduced, and will make people think twice about aiming the skill the wrong way, and doing a complete 180 in order to hit their target (as seen in many of the PvP videos from Blizzcon 2010).
The skill will still be effective this way, but it will make controlling the skill much more involved, since the reduced pivot speed isn't based on twitch reflexes. It's based more on aiming and timing.
Easy. That's when resource elements come into play.
Blizzard can easily implement a higher initial Arcane Power cost for casting Disintegrate, say 50 Power to initiate. Then for the remaining seconds, it can be a constant 20 Power/sec. This would make the player think twice about spamming the skill with multiple clicks.
Edit: Or they could put a slight cooldown on the skill (2-3 seconds), as you mentioned.
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if you use other skills you can cast them, have them do their thing( Possible AOE DOTS?), run away, cast another one,
with desint you pretty much have to be standing there casting desint, and not much of any thing else, your a sitting duck, and your not using diversity ei several spells being in play at the same time.