So, just had this idea rattling around and felt like sharing, seeing what other fans of the game think.
Thorns is such a frequently sought build, and the devs giving up on it is quite the disappointment. They said they have tried to make it work, but feels like they just tried adding more or less damage. The reason that didn't work is because thorns is a defensive stat that offers no defense. Needing to get hit, and with the crazy high damage being thrown out at higher levels, that won't ever scale on its own. So by giving Iron Maiden powerful defensive mechanics and utility, and reworking Invokers to create a very different satisfying playstle. So here we go:
IRON MAIDEN:
- All incoming damage is blocked for thorns amount, and attacks blocked with a shield will increase thorns by the shield's block amount. (Minimum of X thorns required)
- When the crusader would lose more than 40% of their health within 1 second, they instead lose no more than 40%, reflect the extra damage to all nearby enemies, and grants empowered thorns, doubling thorns amount for 6 seconds. This effect stacks.
- Thorns damage taunts enemies to attack the crusader.
- Iron Maiden is disabled when Akarat's Champion is active.
THORNS OF THE INVOKER
(2) Sweep attack hits all enemies in a 360 degree arc and activates thorns for every enemy hit.
(4) Judgment gains the following effects:
- Lesser enemies are bound in Chains of Penance; suffering constant thorns damage and a chance to be charmed for 12 seconds
- Elite enemies are bound in Chains of Reckoning; suffering constant thorns damage for 30 seconds. This effect stacks up to 3 times. At the 3rd stack, the effect is permanent and reflects 40% of the targets damage onto itself.
So the first Iron Maiden effect is intentionally meant to sync with block effects such as punish, insurmountable, etc, with the minimum requirement there to prevent non dedicated thorns builds from reaping the benefits. This also syncs with the 2 piece bonus since it deliberately activates thorns, it wouldn't just deal thorns damage but any effects associated with it, including the taunt, this making sweep attack a constantly available means of making sure enemies keep their attention on the crusader making a true tank in group play.
The second effect is there to make the defensive benefits of thorns be able to scale with any difficulty while also supplementing with more damage so long as they remain in the thick of things.
The 4 piece gives nice CC for lesser enemies while also addressing thorns major weakness of fewer harder hitting enemies vs many lighter hitting enemies. It requires a significant time investment for rift guardians, but once locked in, will both melt and sabotage bosses. If this set were increased to 6 pieces, then maybe they can throw in an Iron Skin bonus, like either the steel skin or thorns rune.
And lastly, making this exclusive from AC is also very intentional. Crusaders have been so dependent on this skill and it is a real killer to build diversity. Not to mention that it is, IMO, ugly as hell.
I'm not a super pro player, nor have any developing experience, but I feel like a little bit of creativity goes a long way to taking a frequently requested build and making it work, as opposed to just moving on. Any input or opinions would be most appreciated.
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First post, yay.
So, just had this idea rattling around and felt like sharing, seeing what other fans of the game think.
Thorns is such a frequently sought build, and the devs giving up on it is quite the disappointment. They said they have tried to make it work, but feels like they just tried adding more or less damage. The reason that didn't work is because thorns is a defensive stat that offers no defense. Needing to get hit, and with the crazy high damage being thrown out at higher levels, that won't ever scale on its own. So by giving Iron Maiden powerful defensive mechanics and utility, and reworking Invokers to create a very different satisfying playstle. So here we go:
IRON MAIDEN:
THORNS OF THE INVOKER
So the first Iron Maiden effect is intentionally meant to sync with block effects such as punish, insurmountable, etc, with the minimum requirement there to prevent non dedicated thorns builds from reaping the benefits. This also syncs with the 2 piece bonus since it deliberately activates thorns, it wouldn't just deal thorns damage but any effects associated with it, including the taunt, this making sweep attack a constantly available means of making sure enemies keep their attention on the crusader making a true tank in group play.
The second effect is there to make the defensive benefits of thorns be able to scale with any difficulty while also supplementing with more damage so long as they remain in the thick of things.
The 4 piece gives nice CC for lesser enemies while also addressing thorns major weakness of fewer harder hitting enemies vs many lighter hitting enemies. It requires a significant time investment for rift guardians, but once locked in, will both melt and sabotage bosses. If this set were increased to 6 pieces, then maybe they can throw in an Iron Skin bonus, like either the steel skin or thorns rune.
And lastly, making this exclusive from AC is also very intentional. Crusaders have been so dependent on this skill and it is a real killer to build diversity. Not to mention that it is, IMO, ugly as hell.
I'm not a super pro player, nor have any developing experience, but I feel like a little bit of creativity goes a long way to taking a frequently requested build and making it work, as opposed to just moving on. Any input or opinions would be most appreciated.