As you all know, with the latest 2.1 fix to sentries, they are now able to use 3 hatred spenders without any delays or glitches in the attacks.
It has come to my attention as most people that this brings up a few problems with the set regardless with how well it performs(looking at the latest leaderboards):
1) The fact that people can use 3 hatred spenders to max out the dmg of sentries as much as possible limits their skills bar to only 1-2 skills of choice as the other 4 skills are the sentries and 3 hatred spenders that the sentries can shoot(especially when not much spenders can be used by sentries). By making people take 3 hatred spenders, there won't be much to build diversities other then taking certain runes to match the player's gear(mostly for elemental dmg).
2) With people taking 3 hatred spenders to max out the sentries dmg it encourages a "lazy" and "cowardly" styles of gameplay(as been said by most people playing non-dh and dh alike). Since people will most likely won't have any hatred generator skills on their bar(with the exception of kridershot and elemental arrow) most of them will use their hatred only to summon the sentries and then run to a corner for easier survival and let the sentries do all the work(maybe shoot 1-2 times with their spenders with whatever hatred they have left), since they have no stable source of hatred they will need to conserve their hatred as much as possible to be able to resummon their sentries should the need for it arise. This is true when looking at other classes that need to face-tank the mobs in some way or another in order to do dmg, which is the main reason why dh is currently at the top of the leaderboards, not needing to even see the mobs and still kill stuff.
*By no means am I saying that all dh players play this "lazy" style of play. However it is a fact that most do play it simply because that's the style that the set currently encourages to play.
My proposal:
6pc: Sentries cast your equipped Hatred Generator(limited to 1) and Hatred Spenders(limited to 2)
To the current 3 spender builds it is somewhat of a nerf in terms of dmg done by the sentries, HOWEVER, if played right it can also be a BUFF!
Currently the sentries use 3 different spenders with the one with lowest cost replacing the sentries auto-attack bolts completely.
My proposal limits the amount of spenders used to 2 while having a 3rd generator skill replace the sentries bolts instead of a 3rd lowest cost spender, making the sentries still use 3 skills of the ones the player equipped.
To the current play style of putting sentries and run to a corner to hide for better survivability it is considered a nerf in terms of dmg, ONLY when the player isn't doing anything else and just let the sentries kill stuff for him/her. However if the player starts attacking alongside his/her sentries, since by having a generator on the skill bar, the player can use the hatred spenders without any worries to having enough hatred to resummons the sentries, effectively acting as a 4th,5th or 6th sentry(depending on gear choices) therefore making stuff go down even faster. By doing so this limitation encourages a more active play by the dh player, and will only be better the better the player is.
Another bonus is the fact that Blizzard is making items to make generators better(i.e. the new seasonal legendary bow which gives bolas a pull proc) therefore giving players more different skill and gear choices for cool combinations. Also by making players take a hatred generator gives players up to 25(5 skills with 5 runes each) more skill choices depending on gear or what they like or play with better.
Also the limitation on hatred spenders can be by-passed for 2 spender skill: elemental arrow and chakram. Using those skills respective items(kridershot and the newly buffed silver start piercers) will effectively turn them into generators(otherwise the limitation will still be applied).
In the future I expect that blizz will release more items that turn spenders to generators effectively giving players even more options for gearing.
*A problem arises from this fact that will make people think that kridershot will be a must in order to maximize the build's dmg. The answer to that problem is that it never existed and the reason is simple: By using a kridershot the dmg that each sentry will dish out will be lower for it being a bow with lower dmg compared to a 2h xbow(or slower compared to using a 1h xbow) therefore counteracting the dmg bonus from elemental arrow compared to a normal generator. Also depending on skill and gear choice, the player can do more dmg with a normal generator and other weapons as long as the player knows how to play.
A good example of a choice that a player will be able to make:
The player has gotten a Silver Star Piercer quiver(with the newly added chakram affix) which gives him the option to start using chakram as a generator therefore making his sentries able to dish out more dmg per sentry(and himself) by sacrificing 1-2 sentries(depending on skill choices). *Currently, there really isn't much of a choice since the chakram skill is really weak in terms of dmg so the player will probably stick with his bombardier's rucksack, but you get my point(lets hope that chakram will get a buff in the future).
Another example:
A player has gotten the new seasonal bow that gives bolas a pull proc. This in combination with the Emimei's Duffel quiver that makes bolas explode instantly the player will be able to buff out the bolas for a new type of gameplay by sacrificing 1-2 sentries(again depending on skill choice). Especially since the player will be able to attack himself with those bolas only makes it the more interesting.(imagine the mobs not being able to do anything as they get pulled constantly by bolas from the sentries and the player alike effectively giving mobs perma cc)
*Not sure if the sentries will be able to proc weapon abilities but I see no problem in letting them proc since most abilities don't do much.
In addition it will give players a better reason to use other weapons instead of the biggest dmg 2h xbows. such as using a 1h xbow for less dmg but faster hatred regen and therefore more dmg dished out by the player and a faster sentries attack speed without the need to use t&t gloves, or the averaged dmg and attack speed bow for constant dmg from sentries and player.
The reason I came up with this proposal is the fact that I've seen many people complain about the gameplay style that the mara6 encourages to play and how it rewards players to play it(looking at the latest leaderboards). Another reason is that I play a dh myself(with over 700 hours on him) and I don't want to let my sentries do all my work for me while I do nothing(especially when I like the set so much and the play style that comes with it).
IMO this change will probably be better in the long run compared to other suggestions of nerfing the mara set completely(no need to nerf something like this completely), especially since it will reward active play and therefore reward it more compared to the "lazy" play style which is currently encouraged with the way sentries work currently(this proposal won't make people unable to play this kind of style should they choose to do so).(will also refute people saying that a dh player doesn't need to do anything and the sentries do all the work for him/her)
M6 is seriously one of the paragons (pardon the pun?) of item design. It gives you the option of completely changing up how you play. I liken it to Grin Reaper which similarly allows you to put abilities on your bar that you aren't going to use, but your clones will be using... frequently.
The issue is, simply, most of the rest of the items aren't nearly as game-changing as M6 and they should be... because M6 is fucking GENIUS. It breaks the mold. It gives the player a way to truly think out-of-the-box. It's what all item design should strive to be. We need more things like M6 and less things like Helltooth!
I don't think M6 should be changed. Instead I want other sets that have equally awesome benefits such as one that has a significant increase to hatred regen/maximum hatred.
Shaggy nailed it. As a Demon Hunter i'm annoyed as hell that the only viable builds for high Torment are variations of Marauder 6. No other set or legendary combination come close to the power of this setup.... which is a shame since they buffed a bunch of other spells but we all know that as soon as you get the full set you will use it because the other items are trash compared to it.
Ehi, at least i'll have a clean start soon and i can mess around a lot with my full skillset...
No thanks, Op is the same kind of person that keep asking for Akkhan to be nerfed. News flash, they are the sets that are actually doing what they should be doing in this game, break the rules on some of your spells to open up builds. You dont want every crusader akkhan and every dh maurauder, fix all the other items being dogshit.
link to official forums post: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/13840724197
As you all know, with the latest 2.1 fix to sentries, they are now able to use 3 hatred spenders without any delays or glitches in the attacks.
It has come to my attention as most people that this brings up a few problems with the set regardless with how well it performs(looking at the latest leaderboards):
1) The fact that people can use 3 hatred spenders to max out the dmg of sentries as much as possible limits their skills bar to only 1-2 skills of choice as the other 4 skills are the sentries and 3 hatred spenders that the sentries can shoot(especially when not much spenders can be used by sentries). By making people take 3 hatred spenders, there won't be much to build diversities other then taking certain runes to match the player's gear(mostly for elemental dmg).
2) With people taking 3 hatred spenders to max out the sentries dmg it encourages a "lazy" and "cowardly" styles of gameplay(as been said by most people playing non-dh and dh alike). Since people will most likely won't have any hatred generator skills on their bar(with the exception of kridershot and elemental arrow) most of them will use their hatred only to summon the sentries and then run to a corner for easier survival and let the sentries do all the work(maybe shoot 1-2 times with their spenders with whatever hatred they have left), since they have no stable source of hatred they will need to conserve their hatred as much as possible to be able to resummon their sentries should the need for it arise. This is true when looking at other classes that need to face-tank the mobs in some way or another in order to do dmg, which is the main reason why dh is currently at the top of the leaderboards, not needing to even see the mobs and still kill stuff.
*By no means am I saying that all dh players play this "lazy" style of play. However it is a fact that most do play it simply because that's the style that the set currently encourages to play.
My proposal:
6pc: Sentries cast your equipped Hatred Generator(limited to 1) and Hatred Spenders(limited to 2)
To the current 3 spender builds it is somewhat of a nerf in terms of dmg done by the sentries, HOWEVER, if played right it can also be a BUFF!
Currently the sentries use 3 different spenders with the one with lowest cost replacing the sentries auto-attack bolts completely.
My proposal limits the amount of spenders used to 2 while having a 3rd generator skill replace the sentries bolts instead of a 3rd lowest cost spender, making the sentries still use 3 skills of the ones the player equipped.
To the current play style of putting sentries and run to a corner to hide for better survivability it is considered a nerf in terms of dmg, ONLY when the player isn't doing anything else and just let the sentries kill stuff for him/her. However if the player starts attacking alongside his/her sentries, since by having a generator on the skill bar, the player can use the hatred spenders without any worries to having enough hatred to resummons the sentries, effectively acting as a 4th,5th or 6th sentry(depending on gear choices) therefore making stuff go down even faster. By doing so this limitation encourages a more active play by the dh player, and will only be better the better the player is.
Another bonus is the fact that Blizzard is making items to make generators better(i.e. the new seasonal legendary bow which gives bolas a pull proc) therefore giving players more different skill and gear choices for cool combinations. Also by making players take a hatred generator gives players up to 25(5 skills with 5 runes each) more skill choices depending on gear or what they like or play with better.
Also the limitation on hatred spenders can be by-passed for 2 spender skill: elemental arrow and chakram. Using those skills respective items(kridershot and the newly buffed silver start piercers) will effectively turn them into generators(otherwise the limitation will still be applied).
In the future I expect that blizz will release more items that turn spenders to generators effectively giving players even more options for gearing.
*A problem arises from this fact that will make people think that kridershot will be a must in order to maximize the build's dmg. The answer to that problem is that it never existed and the reason is simple: By using a kridershot the dmg that each sentry will dish out will be lower for it being a bow with lower dmg compared to a 2h xbow(or slower compared to using a 1h xbow) therefore counteracting the dmg bonus from elemental arrow compared to a normal generator. Also depending on skill and gear choice, the player can do more dmg with a normal generator and other weapons as long as the player knows how to play.
A good example of a choice that a player will be able to make:
The player has gotten a Silver Star Piercer quiver(with the newly added chakram affix) which gives him the option to start using chakram as a generator therefore making his sentries able to dish out more dmg per sentry(and himself) by sacrificing 1-2 sentries(depending on skill choices). *Currently, there really isn't much of a choice since the chakram skill is really weak in terms of dmg so the player will probably stick with his bombardier's rucksack, but you get my point(lets hope that chakram will get a buff in the future).
Another example:
A player has gotten the new seasonal bow that gives bolas a pull proc. This in combination with the Emimei's Duffel quiver that makes bolas explode instantly the player will be able to buff out the bolas for a new type of gameplay by sacrificing 1-2 sentries(again depending on skill choice). Especially since the player will be able to attack himself with those bolas only makes it the more interesting.(imagine the mobs not being able to do anything as they get pulled constantly by bolas from the sentries and the player alike effectively giving mobs perma cc)
*Not sure if the sentries will be able to proc weapon abilities but I see no problem in letting them proc since most abilities don't do much.
In addition it will give players a better reason to use other weapons instead of the biggest dmg 2h xbows. such as using a 1h xbow for less dmg but faster hatred regen and therefore more dmg dished out by the player and a faster sentries attack speed without the need to use t&t gloves, or the averaged dmg and attack speed bow for constant dmg from sentries and player.
The reason I came up with this proposal is the fact that I've seen many people complain about the gameplay style that the mara6 encourages to play and how it rewards players to play it(looking at the latest leaderboards). Another reason is that I play a dh myself(with over 700 hours on him) and I don't want to let my sentries do all my work for me while I do nothing(especially when I like the set so much and the play style that comes with it).
IMO this change will probably be better in the long run compared to other suggestions of nerfing the mara set completely(no need to nerf something like this completely), especially since it will reward active play and therefore reward it more compared to the "lazy" play style which is currently encouraged with the way sentries work currently(this proposal won't make people unable to play this kind of style should they choose to do so).(will also refute people saying that a dh player doesn't need to do anything and the sentries do all the work for him/her)
Also why are you using 2 1h xbows on a m6 build?
The issue is, simply, most of the rest of the items aren't nearly as game-changing as M6 and they should be... because M6 is fucking GENIUS. It breaks the mold. It gives the player a way to truly think out-of-the-box. It's what all item design should strive to be. We need more things like M6 and less things like Helltooth!
Ehi, at least i'll have a clean start soon and i can mess around a lot with my full skillset...