You meant warlock. Elementalist is Demo/Shaman and they’re quite weak too. Yeah warlock also sucks and I explained that above.
But you’re not getting the right point here. Warlock and Battlemage will suck unless there’s an OP set that supports them, cause the synergy isn’t there. That’s why Defiler also sucks even tho both Necro and Demo have very good stuff on them. This is why Apostate wasn’t so good before Bonemonger existed because even though both have aether RR, there isn’t any good primary skill for aether on both classes (DE wasn’t good enough).
That’s the same issue with Battlemage and Warlock. Soldier is usually a support class if it isn’t built with physical. The physical battlemage set (spellscourge) just sucks plainly so phys is out of the question. And Soldier can’t support aether Arcanist cause there’s no RR. Occultist is a support class too. Occultist’s main skills don’t fit Arcanist and Arcanist’s main skills don’t fit Occultist. That’s why Warlock sucks. Crate tried to save it with Clairvoyant but the set needs to be OP to save such a bad class.
Now let’s look at all the other classes with Arcanist:
Battlemage sucks
Warlock sucks
Breaker isn’t as good as infiltrator but it’s not dead - still Arcanist is usually support here.
Druid is good with Trozan and mad_lee made a good Ultos build too. Arcanist is support on Ultos and primary on Trozan
Sorc is good and is getting (probably) even better with the new Pyran set. Arcanist is support on BWC builds and even with Demo on Pyran.
Mage hunter: PRM is arcanist main, Box is Inq main.
Binder: Obviously Arcanist main
Templar: It’s kinda even on Vanquisher builds tho VM takes the spotlight since it’s flashy but CT/Inferno are maxed in Vanq builds. Pyran is Arcanist main.
Now tell me if Arcanist is just a “support class on the few builds where it exists”
@medea_fleecestealer or the other mods: if it’s okay please transfer this and all other arcanist-related stuff in this thread to the “arcanist needs CPR” thread since it’s more appropriate there
Just check Mad Lee PRM Mage Hunter and see what us doing the damage and what’s the function of Inquisitor.As whole in 90% of the builds Inquisitor is just support mastery,not the opposite.
Firstly we have a history of the developers replying to comments just like yours with a constant tone - that it is a far more practical use of their time to nerf outliers than it would be to buff every other set to that performance level. Nerfs in the past months have been targeting builds that are pulling sub 6min times and the recent changes are short of producing such tuning.
As for spellbreaker… I’ll just state nothing is changed and people keep trying to build it with deathmarked expecting outlandish results after all these years. Seek other paths and understand that a set isn’t going to be passed over for nerfs because it underperforms on one mastery.
I think DM nerfs were right on point. It’s still the most powerful set in the game probably. And it overperformed not just on Infiltrator but on Trickster and Blademaster as well. Even Dervish was pulling off amazing results with it with cold Fervor Conduit.
Judging by venomblade set changes crate seems to be opting for gradual tuning in most cases rather than single hard hits. I stand by what I said before about this being the first in a series of nerfs.
And as much as the casuals hate seeing something getting nerfed in consecutive patches, I think this strategy is good for the game rather than going for 2 overtuned nerf then one overtuned buff back and forth.
I agree, set is still bonkers, Night’s Embrace is still bonkers, sub-6 minute times are still very much achievable on a min-maxed Infiltrator. Playing this character feels like you are playing a god. Unlike a lot of melee powerhouses (like Belgo or Venomblade Dervish or Warborn DK) this one just never dies and one of the very few elite melee chars that can cruise into Shards 80+ (84 and 85 were achieved before SR nerfs on suboptimal specs).
ill say this, theres nothing wrong with certain specs being strong. Keep nerfing everything and eventually new players will lose interest in the game very quickly and move on to something else when they discover that they cant make a really strong spec.
If you have the best legendaries, the best spec, the best components, the best augments. Then why shouldn’t your toon be a bit OP? im not saying crazy OP, but it should stomp pretty well.
We will still have the standard questions “I am no new to GD which is the best build?”
I think it should be HARD to make a strong spec, not only from a gear perspective but also from a theoretical/mechanic perspective (I guess that is why it is popular to post builds, so that other players with less theoretical knowledge can just copy-paste that build)
I think the players who get “punished” the most, are the mid-veteran players, those who have a few builds but still play much and push content and farm. Let’s say someone is dedicated in making their only dw melee build push SR with Deathmark set in mind. Then suddenly build becomes crap, just when that player is ready to do SR with it. Now that must be very detrimental, and we have seen such testimonies here. For us regulars on this forum, who has +20 builds, uses GD stash etc, I do not think we care that much about nerfs, we just move on the next OP build for that patch (note, I am not saying that we all GD stash and such but I do not think that we veterans here actually care that much about nerfs)
yes but lets take infiltrator, sure you get flat absorb but its still a fundamentally squishy spec, same with almost all dual wield and even most 2h specs. Why is there such adversity to having one or two ‘overpowered’ specs/gear sets in the game? it’s not a competitive game with closed servers and also not everyone wants to play the most OP spec, its not where all the fun is to be had.
Kick sin in d2 was considered OP yet you didnt see everyone playing one, nor did everyone want to.
And yes i think it should be hard to make a strong spec. but it shouldn’t take countless hours and hours of theorycrafting, testing etc. to make something which is just strong. Really specs which are perfected by veterans on the forums, which have the best of everything should be OP. You put that much time into something and the result should be extremely favourable.
Not saying the deathmarked doesn’t need some adjustments but there is alot of people calling for nerfs constantly on the forums and the general theme is that stuff gets nerfed alot more than stuff gets buffed.
Really i think more time should be spent by the devs into improving old sets and specs. Some sets don’t function well at all without a bunch of ultra rare greens (korba etc.), some specs are very subpar (defiler for example). When everything is functioning well, maybe then the focus should be more shifted towards nerfing stuff.
This what make a game unforgettable in my opignon , the fun being really strong after many hours and pain playing your char , the best and only reward that worth .
The general perception is that there are more nerfs than buffs. The quickest sideways glance at the latest patch finds 45 instances of “reduced”, 87 instances of “increased”, 91 instances of “added”, and 24 instances of “removed”.
So 3 flat, the 20% racial v humans and 3% RR on a skill you didn’t always bother to cast was sufficient? What sort of performance difference are we seeing because that looks like a slap on the wrists in the face of >500 flat and well over 100 existing RR.
@Xervous
So 3 flat, the 20% racial v humans and 3% RR on a skill you didn’t always bother to cast was sufficient? What sort of performance difference are we seeing because that looks like a slap on the wrists in the face of >500 flat and well over 100 existing RR.
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The whole topic idea was,that Deathmarked is gently touched and not nerfed in oblivion.Reapers mark is must cast and is having less RR.Same thing for Night embrace and less RR on Ultos proc.
So you lose some damage in mark and set,less RR and less racial damage.Not big Nerf,but set doesn’t deserve bigger.
What I’m saying is those nerfs are so tiny they don’t even compare to the variance in gear stats a player is likely to encounter. While it is a nerf, in the absence of a demonstration it appears to be a negligible change that doesn’t really change anything about the build’s performance.
DM Cold Infiltrator was nerfed in the last 3-4 patches consistently not only via items nerfs but also devotions and masteries (this patch yet another -5% Cold res loss - combine that with the mageslayer amulet RR nerf and the Aura of Censure nerf the DM set bonus skill RR - it adds up). Then you have dmg bonuses on the separate set items nerfed few times in a row (1.1.3 was the latest one regardless if it was measily 3 flat or not - its another nerf in a long chain of nerfs) as well as set bonus nerfs.
Adds up to what? This isn’t about the long run, it’s about the most recent patch amounting to very little in terms of changes such that another patch down the road is going to address something that was… hardly changed.
so what? you want it nerfed into oblivion? like i a said before there is nothing wrong with strong specs. And it’s not crazy overpowered at the moment anyway. Sets which use deathmarked can do great damage but they are still squishy as hell like almost all other dual wield specs. The changes the devotions, gear, inquisitor etc. are all cumulative and together do indeed make noticeable changes.
On one hand Crate always emphasize that GD is a non-competitive single player game; while on the other hand, there is such a heavy focus on “balance”. Why? What is so wrong for some builds to be stronger in a single player game? In ARPG games I am pretty sure being OP is a significant source of fun and I am pretty sure many players enjoyed playing OP builds.
Personally I think GD is far from perfect, before diving into a constant steam of balance adjustments there are more meaningful improvements can be done. I am sure that Crate have their own vision for GD in the future. When I realized their vision is different from what I imagine the game could be, I just simply quit playing.
