First of all, even with the stacked greens and synergetic items Beastcaller still feels superior.
The main reason is probably with Beastcaller the power is more evenly distributed among pets. So if some pet gets lost in the pathing your dmg doesn’t drop so much. AoE on a non-set build will inherently suffer because of the sheer amount of pets.
Solo dmg on this build is very good, like 50-70 sec Dog depending on his derp, 5-6 min clears in SR with risking it with a caster.
Smth to note about the multiprojectile Raven - the cone has to be reduced. Right now it’s too far away from the combat and those additional projectiles are wasted too often.
Overall the build’s performance seems fine.
But idk how to feel about this mega power creep on %dmg in devos and gear. Every pet build feels like an insane solo dmg with different annoyance in AoE. I’d like for all those %dmg buffs to be rolled back a little in favor of buffing pet AoE abilities. Will report how it goes on other builds, aside from custom and set Cnojurer.
The thing that happened last patch is a blanket changes - blanket buffs to %dmg for all pet builds.
All pet builds i’ve played this patch have solo dmg on par or even higher than melee builds specifically tuned for solo dmg while not having any of melee build danger of being close to the enemy. If this is the direction chosen for pets - to be mad solo dmg maniacs - then ok, but I find it to be a strange homogenization.
Also i haven’t seen Z saying that the idea is to make pet dmg “on par” with other builds. What’s the point of other builds then?
Yes, so it’s not what you are saying. Bringing closer is not “matching solo dmg on all pets to 1% of direct dmg builds”.
And as far as i can tell tankiness is still there, maybe not to the former extent. But pet builds fly through SR90 as opposed to direct dmg or even retal.
In any case, i’m reporting my experience as i go. So far not liking the disparity between pets’ solo dmg and their aoe abilities. This weird crutch people came up with, linking non-pet procs to pets and “forcing” aoe on them, doesn’t feel right. Pets have inbuilt aoe abilities and they must do smth.
But it is not all pet builds though. We are talking about the best examples of both having similar dps, which is the goal.
If talking about SR, that is intended according to the quote I linked.
But, none of my non pet builds also have any issues on SR 90, so I would say it has more to do with the indirect safety offered by the playstyle rather actual tankiness of the build. Like for example, how a kiting caster has an easier time vs Crate than a melee build.
Can that not be how they are balanced?
Weaker AoE than non pet builds so that everything is not a perfect 1:1
I rather not see pet single target damage being weakened as a tradeoff for more universal AoE to every pet. I don’t think there is such an issue to be addressed.
Bysmiel, Beastcaller (fire, lightning and vitality), Ghol, Lost Souls and custom cold builds all have dps on the level of top 1% if not 0.2% direct dmg builds.
What are the examples of “not the best” pet builds that have, say, much lower solo dmg but much higher AoE? What have you tested this pt, mind sharing?
Cause so far everything i play feels like one same build with a giant pet blob of destruction that goes from one target to another erasing if from existence and bypassing most boss mechanics. With minor variation with Lost Souls having strong ranged pets and therefore higher AoE.
It can be, if the deveeloper decides so. I’m reporting what i like and dislike from my perspective, that’s all.
But I am not saying it has more AoE than single target damage. I am saying it has less damage in total. Blanket changes will make its single target dps even worse.
And given the number of classes and sets you have for pets in total, it is not surprising that the percentages will be in their favour when comparing pet vs non pet even though the actual flat number of pet builds being able to do it is not higher than non pets.
But at the same time, something like Ghol Blightfiends apparently still has a bit of disproportionately high single target damage in longer fights, due to how poison stacks. So, something like that on a case by case basis, might need addressing.
I assume it doesn’t because it’s not built in the spirit of top20, where builds are tuned for dmg and farming while staying safe in farming range. That tree of life is a pure value sink with very low return. Elemental Bysmiel it nuts now.
The ones at the top of the list being good should be expected, regardless of pet or non pet.
But with how much power is caught up in sets and requiring those specific mastery combos, for pet builds you end up with meme tier stuff if you try to deviate from the norm, few exceptions aside.
Blanket changes based on the performance of a handful few would mean, reducing build variety even further.
_
Btw, it is not just blanket nerfs that I am claiming to be against. The same goes for blanket buffs as well. Blightfiend for example, I don’t believe needs any extra AoE.
One argument I made, while suggesting the reduction of AoE power of something like Beastcaller Conjurer back in the previous PTR was that with enough item granted pets, you could get similar spread and ‘AoE’ in that way, comparable to Lost Souls Skeletons, while having a core of individually stronger pets, kind of diluting or reducing the identity of Skeletons having strength in numbers. It translated into item granted pets in general getting multiple passthroughs and no longer feeling like a requirement by default.
We also see the impact of the change in focus from Pet attack/total speed to Pet Damage, in the form of DoTs becoming way stronger in prolonged fights compared to flat pet dps. That ofcourse matters less for farming SR/Crucible, but is still something to keep in mind.
