And I'd like to share my thoughts. A little information about me since I'm here to offer my thoughts and opinions are like buttholes. Everybody has one, and quite a few of them smell.
It's been my pleasure to play Diablo II since around the year 2000, playing on and off. I started playing after the expansion, however, some time before the ranewords, synergies, and other runewords. I was introduced to the game during middle school with my closest friend of the time and we would spend several evenings and weekends in search of things. After completing it in the hellmode softcore (after an extremely long trip honestly, I was awful in the past) My friend then got me to try hardcore. I lost my life at the level of 7 to the enchantment of lightning.
Since then, I've grown quite in my game. I've played a lvl 95ish hardcore hammerdin as well as a high 80's poison Necro. I'm currently playing a tank level 80ish find barbarian that horked 4 top exclusives (best is wizardspike) and an gul rune that I found yesterday running around the Hell with 75% resistance all but cold at around 50ish 400% mf, as well as 4k lives. He isn't able to kill anything on himself, and must rely on other players or his merc. However, his stuns can make enemies shiver and make them take 40% less damage, and doubles the mana and life of your character, and his merc can make them replenish themselves fairly frequently and can cause enemies to flee by clearing chokepoints when required, and makes two players games rain items as an eight player game. He's an absolute blast to play as there's no way he steals thunder and the majority of players are thrilled having him in the game and isn't concerned about drops, aside from stuff that helps his character, like Guardian Angel, so I'm not competing with the other dps players for the identical items.
I love weird designs like those that aren't in the realm of the meta. I remember the Paladins my buddies and I played with in high school. It was the time when Schaeffers Hammer could be the most powerful weapon you could receive for an endgame Paladin. We played Holy Freeze, Fanatacism, and Conviction using three revenge Paladins and nothing was completely invincible to us. Act 1 Hell was like Act one normal and the enemies were dying due to the combination of the maximum Holy Freeze and Conviction. Many said that they had the most smooth baal runs they've ever experienced with us on them.
Therefore, I believe that I'm familiar with the game pretty well and am a bit of a fan for it. I've not been a top-tier player due to my being more of a tank/support player than a pure dpsplayer, and I've never been able to clear things efficiently for myself (nor do I like playing the same content repeatedly) enough to accumulate the most expensive runewords or to add to my collection of +skill charms. I've killed Uber Diablo, and Tristram however, and have was able to run content for the end of game using a variety of characters that are hardcore So I'm confident in to say that I'm pretty decent.
Just now, I've stated that I am a fan of the game however, this experience has made me acknowledge its numerous, numerous shortcomings. This isn't to say that it's not great. It's clear to see its influence on other games such as that of the Soulsbourne genre, as well as the numerous Diablo replicas that have been created from the game industry over time. It is certainly deserved its popularity, however we are all aware that popular things also have flaws. For instance, you can clearly observe Blizzard trying to correct their mistakes by introducing the loot system to Diablo by introducing needs and greed rolls to the later games. The days are gone of people huddled around a baal, trying to be quick enough to get the unique or unique item that fell, only later realizing that it was darkglow in the end. There are a lot of issues similar to these to be found in Diablo II.
This leads the issue of Diablo II's main issue. Its mechanics and progress. For me to really discuss this, I must look to it from the other side, as it's hard to convey without sounding like me saying that Diablo II is difficult (its actually quite simple with a decent amount of different builds, and it's relatively simple to get equipment, but more on this in a moment) What Diablo II is trying to accomplish is to give you a sense of progress. You begin as a massive hero, even in normal mode, where everything is easy to play and the majority of enemies are killed within a couple of hits, in the right way. When you reach NM and the game becomes more challenging but manageable. Then you must take it slow, or the early hell will kill your character, but at the end of the game, you're a huge damn hero once more, teleporting around and destroying everything you encounter with ease.
Sound great, doesn't it? But the issue lies in the mechanism. To be able to reach that game-changing adolescent, you must build in specific methods. Synergies must be maximized. Many skills are not utilized most of them are considered to be ineffective. There are many abilities within the game, which the majority of players think are useless more than dipping a single point into. Every build contains dex and str as "the most you must equip your equipment, with the remainder being converted into energy or vitality in the case of you are a sorcerer of the energy shield". There's not much choice in final game builds. The majority of them are "completely optimize all synergies, and load your inv of +skill charms". What's the point of elements like damage charms? What is the only factor that determines the vast majority of melee-based characters and builds?
I discovered the answer watching a debate about an entirely different topic. The reviewer I love to watch was talking about the common themes that are used in popular media, and why people are so enraged by certain games that others enjoy while discussing Sword Art Online. Their main point which made me realize the flaws in D2 is that it's actually an awful gaming experience (Ragnorak Online is in SAO) once you consider it. Every job is DPS. There aren't tanks and no supports. There are only a only a handful of bizarre off-the-wall designs which actually perform.
The biggest issue in Diablo II. Everybody wants to play DPS, since at the end of the day, this is the only position that has had the ability to fulfill. This isn't an issue with the individuals. This is a flaw with the game.
I'm just finished talking about my Find Item/Tank barbarian earlier. about how much fun he is to play. I really meant that. He's able to run through the enemies from the game and not be concerned about it. He makes rain-making objects, and players love to see him around. But , at the same time it's annoying due to the lack of potential. He's not able to kill anything by himself. He's not even able to use his own spells for longer than a minute without the creature having a particular but easy to obtain weapon, or constantly drinking mana potion. He can handle huge mobs in packs fairly easily , but if he does not stop the stunned enemies from getting between him and the unique monsters his health levels can plummet rapidly despite having 4000 life and a maximum resist of all and even a decent amount of defense that isn't being included with top-quality items (which it's difficult to find items that are elite with the necessary mods to ensure you don't get stun locked constantly or be instantly killed by the power of an elite monster's death blast).
He works, right? I was taking 8 minions out of the NM at level 46 in rares that I bet for at lvl 20 most of the time. He is able to wander around and collect around 100 cows, and then remain in the middle insofar as he's not close proximity to a poor unique, and then be there for quite a while as long time, while keeping them all stunned while the dps do their job. In a way, the guy is boring, as it would take five to ten minutes to take out all mobs in a pack using the damage I have done myself. I had to give up many things in order to create the character I believe he's.
How can we address this issue? In particular, without making the exercise more like a walk in the park that it is now for some classes?
Here is my concept. It is composed of three steps.
Lower the influence of skills above the level of 20. You heard me right. The returns are drastically decreasing for every single skill that is over 20. Let's end the necessity to stack +skill items as well as single-skill grand charms.
I'd like to see sorceresses put in 10-15 points of the various skills of their tree and will have a reason to keep fire, lightning and cold gcs. They can be used in various amounts, based on the amount they require to master certain areas or skills. I'd like to see a character who has the charms for their skill class, and seeing them as treasures not as an unfulfilling experience. I would like to have more diversity in the build types, as well as fewer that have 20 points across five different skill sets with one point in prereqs , or "must be able to have" capabilities that gain their full impact from only 1 point.
Give skills breakpoints. There are additional effects available at levels 5, 10 15 and 20. For instance, firebolt is for the sorcerer. Let's say at level 5 it gets an increase in mana cost. When it reaches lvl 10, it explodes into a tiny AoE, like the shape of a fireball. At level 15, it receives an enormous damage boost. When you reach lvl 20, it receives an enormous reduction in casting time and you are able to use it just as Amazon with the strafe. It's a mini gun that can handle fast and uninteresting targets.
Remove decreasing returns on skills such as natural resistance. Instead, make them do in the opposite direction, which is to say that they begin with very little but then explode when they reach level 20. The level 20 natural resistance for the barb gives him a cap of 95% in all other resistances. There is no requirement for them for them to be "hard points. The 20th level of fire resistance for paladins gives the ability to resist fire to allies that have reached 100 resistance. It may even confers the ability to absorb fire. Find item at level 20 offers a tiny chance of making regular mobs drop items as an original mob, but even less chance to make them drop as an extremely unique or distinctive city councillor (we're talking about .5 percent and .1 percent chance or something similar however it is significant in things like cows)
There are more reasons to invest five or 10 points in a particular skill than 20 or 1 or 0 is what I'm suggesting. The holy fire in higher levels. Add the fire damage to the melee attacks, and increase the damage of weapon effects and charms by a certain percentage. Paladins can turn into a swift barbarian fiery tornado. Make those charms with +fire damage into valuable treasures for specific combinations of classes. Create more two and three combinations of characters that are effective for greater builds. The best things could be derived from this.
To make hell mode more challenging, make it more frequent for monsters to be granted dual immunity. Make uniques more powerful packs of minions and allow them to share their immunity. Thus, for a sorc who was a lightning strike encountering a unique who is lightning enchanted , is an actual "holy the f*ck" moment instead of an "Ugh I guess I'll sit and wait until my creature end the one-of-a-kind" event." This could make hyper-specialized builds still effective in fighting bosses, or clearing out areas such as cows, or other areas where they are sure there are few things resistant to their attacks however, diversified builds like the traditional Weatherwoman sorceress also have a chance to shine. It's an based on skill build that has attack abilities that cannot be thrown at a rapid pace, but is the most efficient at getting rid of all hell. Take away the hammerdin's ability avoid the defenses of demons and undead. It is not a good idea to have class which can't abide by the fundamental rule of Hell mode that is "there is always something that you're going to be having a difficult time working through on your own. It's not a difficult time it's just a tough time"
Perhaps fix the scaling for players 8? In the moment, it's still a breeze to build an encapsulated dps build using excellent gear, however many class combinations aren't as good in players 8. Similar to players 8 ubers, ubers are extremely, so more difficult than doing it by smiting. To make it easier, modify smite in a way that it no ever hits every time and make it to require players to be willing to engage in duels or that players with low levels are penalized for attacking in comparison to high level gamers. Make sure that trolls are not entering low-level games using paladins of lvl 15-30 and charging/one-shotting lvl 60+ sorceresses , is my only suggestion or the "spider forests waypoint" vulnerability where the player is able to immediately attack and end your life when you enter their Tp.
Give players more reason to collaborate in more difficult situations, and less chances to make fun of the other, is what I'm suggesting. Also... Please find ways to include the loot bags/quest system to allow the most unique characters and to make them act like bosses, at the very least. I've had a hard to process information visually quickly and therefore trying to find loot while playing D2 can be a challenge for me. If I don't get loot, when I arrive at NM, I'm dead or if I'm planning to grind solo for hours, since the game is extremely item dependent. Make it clear to players that there is a good reason for staying on the field and trade their items after baal runs, or even run an entire show rather than being overwhelmed. Introduce a town feature or perhaps one of the shops or anyone who rezzes mercs within an act, for example, an adventure board. Instead of getting the loot direct from a boss or something exclusive, we have to visit the town and then turn into our treasure bags or accept the reward. Then , players can discuss the items they have received and exchange items in the case that they have something that another player could benefit from. There's no more leaving empty handed from baal run or whatever. There's no more teleporting around the actions as fast as you can, or skipping those extra zones, since If I actually do go hunting for cold crows in this five-man Game of HC early, we will have five more chances to collect loot which can be traded against each other. The best things could come from this.
So, these were my thoughts. What are your thoughts? Agree? Disagree? Do you have any specific suggestions for breaking points in your skill at levels 5, 10 15 and 20? We'd love to hear from you! And buy d2r ladder items, d2r items from p2pah.com now, get more coupon.
Jun-06-2022