Maybe it’s not my place to say but if a character is so reliant on that small damage that they lost to a nerf, isn’t that a bigger problem in and of itself?
It is also worth mentioning that Crucible players have steadily developed a mindset over time of building glassier characters with the natural goal of pushing clear times down as far as they can in tandem with changes that have served to further enable this (like Cunning/Spirit providing health as a prime example) which is a problem as well. Especially as the aggro fix that they asked for means these largely offensive characters suddenly take more damage than they were previously accustomed to.
You know, I was about to write another big post about how finicky the wording is for proc skills and what can trigger them, but I took another look at Upheaval and it actually does use the same language that other WPS skills do, just with the caveat that it only has a chance to trigger on crits, so I’ll concede this point.
In case it’s not clear, I agree. If my most pressing issue with the game is about the advanced interactions between a half-dozen skills out of the, what, 250 that characters have access to? Then you’re doing pretty damn well compared to any other developers out there.
When it comes to a build that can readily beat Crucible in one patch and get destroyed in another patch, it’s not a factor of “oh, let’s just make it less glassy.” Skills typically need very specific gear combinations to get the bonus points necessary to hard-cap them and if you’re going so far out of your way to hardcap the ability, you really want to see nice returns out of them. You can try and get more sustain to offset the damage changes, but if you’re playing a particular skill + damage type, the devotion path just may not be there (no ADCTH nodes anyway near the T3 devotions you want to get), or you may use different gearing to get it, but then your resistances are way off and there’s no reasonable way to get past it without overhauling 3-4-5 pieces of gear you meticulously picked out for the occasion. The disappointment doubles if a particular MI slot you farmed 100+ hours to obtain is now practically worthless.
Now have that happen 2 or 3 times in the span of a year due to “balance” changes? That would make anyone want to uninstall and quit, at least until there’s a firm guarantee about “no more changes. Everything will stay as it is at this point.” Then people will come back and compete for speedrun glory again, knowing that even if they get a really good time, their builds will no longer be touched.
Not a great comment on my part— I think I was reading something into your original post that wasn’t really there in retrospect. The intent there was to clarify that aggro fix (and more generally, mechanics changes) were a not entirely insignificant factor in getting from that 9-11 minutes to where we are now (something I thought was missing from an implied narrative that I no longer think you implied). I don’t think that I suggested that the aggro fix alone
but perhaps the brevity of my comment combined with my over-reading of yours created that impression along with the appearance of drama (the latter of which, to be fair, was present, though I hope not nearly in the quantity you may have perceived it to be.)
In any case, I hope we can get back to examining Upheaval and FH+Upheaval.
Having about 1650+ hours played in Grim Dawn, i never knew that Upheaval worked this way and didn’t proc off of other WPS. I much prefer it being another WPS at worse case or better yet, nerf it and make it able to proc off of other WPS. It doesnt make any sense to me right now.
Even if you disagree with me, one thing is undeniable. If i didn’t know the way skill didn’t work with other WPS skills by now then there is clearly something missing the way the game explains things.
EDIT : I like to mention that i always thought WPS as simply “empowered basic attacks”.
Or people have poor reading skills and comprehension to connect 2 + 2 = 4. The skill says: Whenever you land a critical strike with your basic weapon attacks + activates off default weapon attacks. It doesn’t mention anything else, so its safe to assume that it excludes all else.
That’s why endgame content exists - to provide a challenge for full geared builds.
Oh, wait… You don’t balance SR above 60, my mistake
Lets call it a coincidence when nerfs happen if someone posted a 4:xx crucible run
Its kind a progress, you know. Planes fly higher, computers got smarter, cars got faster. The same is in GD
Damn, those Pyromancers, melee Shieldbreakers and Purifiers.
Purifiers someone? You know, those Demo+Inq? Dagallon, ehm?
It might be a revelation, but Mines are still the worst RR skill in the game
And we have it!
I can faceroll Cronley Gang in 30 minutes with Horn of Gandar or I can faceroll Callagadra in 30 seconds with retal WItchblade
Pretty much boss nerfed mobs resistances in MC for 2 or 3 times. Ppl mostly complain about imbalances (eg Kuba healing pool or Grava dispel orbs…), we rarely flinch like omg this boss hit for 10k dmg and one shot me. Did we ever say Calla too hard? Nope. Dying is learning. Deal with it. We like creative, make something better, and thats how we love GD. End game gears mean strongest ones, they only get obstacle vs superbosses, and it happens to every RPG game. Thats why some games even has NG++++ or OP 10, for hardcore players.
About Crucible, as cunning/spirit gain hp as well, augments buffed, it allows glass canon builds can achieve the peak with strategy and carefully, not like before, a 7-8k hp char runs around and wish for luck a mob wont one shot him. Also 10 mins per run is a bit boring. Runs now smoother and shorter, it’s good, and everyone loves that.
I might be in the minority of the active forum community here when I say this, but I rather have “homogeneity” than something being “unique”, but useless.
This is what pops into my mind every time someone brings up that argument in balancing stuff:
I would tend to agree, but it can’t be balanced in a vacuum assuming that it doesn’t exist either.
It works quite nicely on avenger or on a similar build to mine but using evoker instead ( without that pass through)
I’m not saying that it doesn’t deserve some type of buff though. Larger radius mods for melee builds or increased availability of +skill points on gear would be good starting points.
