Since the mule with the new test patch build is still crossing Sierra Nevada mountains while Zantai is warming up Crate’s servers with bellows and birchwood in anticipation, we have a bit of time to discuss the have beens of the old physical resist meta.
I think that swapping phys res with %armor on Seal of Might and Formidable is a good decision, but the problem with that is there are already prefixes that have armor and then Seal of Blades has that %armor bonus too. Something a bit more interesting can be done about it. My suggestions are
Seal of Might: Swap %armor with flat armor.
Best place to do it since it’s an aura so flat armor buff should be global. It will make Seals of Might not too similiar to Seal of Blades bonus and it will help all those builds wearing caster armor that have really hard time scaling it with %armor bonuses.
Formidable: Add 15-20% reflect resist bonus.
Right now there are two prefixes that have %armor:
I think for Formidable to live up to its name it has to offer a tiny a bit more. And %reflect resistance is a useful stat if you want to farm Campaign, especially with a Physical or Bleeding build
Emberguard/Plagueguard gloves. Either increase flat DA value to 50-60 or change it to 2-3% DA (another pair can have %OA to make it interesting).
Those gloves were a real strong alternative to legendary gloves for many builds. Perhaps too strong with up to 5% phys res roll (up to 10% with Formidable prefix). But right now they went from hero to almost zero. I think bumping up DA value can make them a viable alternative to legendaries/epics.
Dominator’s was the other armor affix that provided % physical resist. It got player % health instead - a bonus shared by 6 other rare prefixes. Dominator’s could instead get some other uncommon stat, like % skill disruption protection for example.
By removing phys res from it some builds are left without a proper component.
Lightning melee builds used it, mostly because Amber is extremely weak.
Ranged builds that aren’t Lightning used it, because they also lack options.
Vitality builds likewise, because Seal of Blight and Haunted Steel giving activated skills doesn’t fit the build or the skillbar.
I think as far as weapon components go, the following could use a rework:
Amber
Blessed Whetstone
Blessed Steel
Severed Claw
Seal of Corruption
Seal of Resonance
Seal of Shadows (the pierce portion is really weird here)
Haunted Steel
Bloody Whetstone
Oleron’s Blood
Deathchill Bolts
Flintcore Bolts
Aethersteel Bolts
Venom-Tipped Ammo
Void-Touched Ammo
Devil-Touched Ammo
I barely if ever see anyone use them, and usually there are better options.
I agree that a lot of builds are kinda left scratching their heads wondering what to use instead of Seals of Might.
I suggest creating a separate topic for those components you mentioned - it can be an interesting discussion.
I’d say that
and
Are pretty great. Corruption is a mini-powerhouse of a component, Resonance is niche but very useful on some builds. Seal of Shadows can be used on Pierce Casters, especially ones with two-handers (a rare archetype, but still). Haunted Steel is a massive crutch for several non-vitality builds.
well, nothing stops it from having like 6% armor and and then 80 flat armor. And if youre concerned about them pesky phys soldiers abusing it - trim some of the armour off their t3 constelations, no idea why all of them have it to begin with.
i mean if the loss in phys res just get patched up by armor, whats the point of removing phys res in the first place ? I Also think % armor on seal of might feels out of place because thats kinda seal of blades identity. Maybe give it % physique or increase the resistances a little. Up to this patch som felt like the default component which everything else needed to compete with, so im glad that the phys res is gone.
