So... Mara's Kaleidoscope (Amulet), Stone of Jordan (Ring), and Skull Grasp (Ring) can all roll any skill affix post-patch. This opens up a lot of very scary possibilities, especially seeing some of the more twisted ones out there. What is awesome once can be downright intimidating when it can show up four times. Reduce Firebats cost by 48? Check. How about increasing Poison Darts damage by 60%? Hounds cooldown reduced by 39 seconds before accounting for passives (that's right, SIX SECOND cooldown on these guys)? No matter what, the old builds will remain viable with the right gearing choices, and this is only considering our own.
Vomica, that actually looks really cool. As much as people are complaining about how far away from D2 this game is going, your post has just indicated the opposite. Most high-end D2 builds were ABSOLUTELY dependent on having a particular gear setup, many beyond the simple "add an extra level or two to your main skill). I am perfectly fine seeing this continue on, rewarding someone who makes the effort to acquire a highly specialized gear set to make their build work.
Heck, I'm trying to go for a Speed 2.0 Bats build focused around SA if I can manage it. Helmet with Bats bonus and + Max Mana, SoJ with Bats bonus, weapon and OH with Mana on them... it seems doable. If I can get past a certain longevity (that is, when it takes roughly 15 seconds to blow half of my mana pool), then it becomes effectively infinite once you account for non-Bat actions taken in combat. Further gains would allow me to either shift to other runes on some skills (like getting Jaunt or Healing Journey instead of Honored Guest), or grab Pierve the Veil (in a BATS BUILD).
I think beyond allowing such things to happen, the best part about the new legendary possibilities is that getting one for yourself becomes a build-inspiring drop (as opposed to a gear-inspiring build, like today). Finding a Stone of Jordan with an unusual but possibly strong skill bonus might prompt someone to try something new. Same goes for several of the other unique effects and set bonuses that I've seen. In all, I think Blizz ended up doing a surprisingly good job with this
Ruppgu, I don't remember if I posted it in THIS thread, but (yep, it was on the previous page) Bats is not going away. If anything, it's getting better overall, due to being able to actually use cooldowns as needed instead of blowing them for regen. The build kites a lot more than bears, so the increased base regen is a HUGE help, plus dropping a Rain Dance while actually being able to have defenders out will top you off while simultaneously upping your damage by 20% for 20 seconds.
The only difference is that, if you want to use VQ, you replace at least one of your cooldowns with Spider Queen (cast every 15-19 seconds) or Pyrogeist (cast every 4-8 seconds). Part of the Blog was that cast animations are getting quicker for us, as well. Heck, I'm not even going to be using VQ, instead shifting to some Max Mana gear and Spiritual Attunement.
I like what they did overall. To be honest, I'll still be using VQ in most builds, but it's not as overwhelmingly needed as before. Considering going for mana pool gear and Attunement instead, which I'd actually prefer.
In any case, the change means that competitive builds can actually KEEP COOLDOWNS OPEN and use them as needed against enemies, instead of just spamming them for mana. I have just about zero objections to this, and the changes also make leveling a WD much smoother before you get to the point where regen gear gets decent.
With 1H and Fetish the breakpoint is at 1100 mana before Attunement. With a 2H it's around 900. Above this and it works out better than VQ for sustained damage on Bats, and conveniently doesn't require that I stop and cast every few seconds (especially against fast or Shielding mobs, that may be hard to tag) In a group I swap some of my stuff out for poison and drop Fortitude for Medicine to benefit everyone else.
What I like is that I'm actually messing with builds now. Previously there was only negligible differences among the primary builds and a notable lack of progress among anything that wasn't Splinters, Bats, or Bears. Now, even though I still use the Bats as my main striker, the build is VASTLY different than the current models yet still looking both effective and achievable. Good times
I think you guys are missing the point... they are trying to get you to start using passives and skills that are NOT already being used a lot. If anything happens to VQ, it's going to be a nerf not a buff, the skill is super strong as it is (although annoying to use without 5 CDs).
I guess you have a point. The idea on my end was to enable other builds, since you could then smooth out your cooldown use. However, it seems much more likely that Spiritual Attunement would be buffed for this purpose.
The big idea of VQ turning into scaled bonus regen per CD up is one I really like. Call it 75% bonus regen for each cooldown. Then again, this would make it infinitely better than Spiritual Attunement is now, since even by default it would provide 15-45 regen on a nearly constant basis (Attunement works out to 8-10)
Ruppgu, I share your thoughts there. We need the ability to keep a couple of our buffs up more by default, or at the very least on a more constant basis. Making BBV work more like Hex is a good start, IMHO, especially when paired with the VQ change above.
They've stated the Dogs and Gargantuan are getting significant buffs, which is very good. They're iconic class spells (err... as much as can be in a game this young, anyway), and being able to actually use them will be quite the relief for me. Really, as long as they can provide me with 10 seconds against a standard Elite by default (I understand that bad luck facing off against certain DPS affixes will kill them quick), they will be worthwhile. Especially once Fortitude and Medicine come into play... (plotting and praying for this)
I know for fact that a vocal few will be disappointed, pretty much no matter what Blizz does. For myself, as long as the changes step in the right direction and keep WDs relatively in step with the other classes (or slightly better on improvements, since they're the least-played class), I'll be happy. Lots of ways to do it, and any one (or two, or seven) of them will end up net positive for the class as a whole.
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Heck, I'm trying to go for a Speed 2.0 Bats build focused around SA if I can manage it. Helmet with Bats bonus and + Max Mana, SoJ with Bats bonus, weapon and OH with Mana on them... it seems doable. If I can get past a certain longevity (that is, when it takes roughly 15 seconds to blow half of my mana pool), then it becomes effectively infinite once you account for non-Bat actions taken in combat. Further gains would allow me to either shift to other runes on some skills (like getting Jaunt or Healing Journey instead of Honored Guest), or grab Pierve the Veil (in a BATS BUILD).
I think beyond allowing such things to happen, the best part about the new legendary possibilities is that getting one for yourself becomes a build-inspiring drop (as opposed to a gear-inspiring build, like today). Finding a Stone of Jordan with an unusual but possibly strong skill bonus might prompt someone to try something new. Same goes for several of the other unique effects and set bonuses that I've seen. In all, I think Blizz ended up doing a surprisingly good job with this
I don't remember if I posted it in THIS thread, but(yep, it was on the previous page) Bats is not going away. If anything, it's getting better overall, due to being able to actually use cooldowns as needed instead of blowing them for regen. The build kites a lot more than bears, so the increased base regen is a HUGE help, plus dropping a Rain Dance while actually being able to have defenders out will top you off while simultaneously upping your damage by 20% for 20 seconds.The only difference is that, if you want to use VQ, you replace at least one of your cooldowns with Spider Queen (cast every 15-19 seconds) or Pyrogeist (cast every 4-8 seconds). Part of the Blog was that cast animations are getting quicker for us, as well. Heck, I'm not even going to be using VQ, instead shifting to some Max Mana gear and Spiritual Attunement.
In any case, the change means that competitive builds can actually KEEP COOLDOWNS OPEN and use them as needed against enemies, instead of just spamming them for mana. I have just about zero objections to this, and the changes also make leveling a WD much smoother before you get to the point where regen gear gets decent.
Looking at something like http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/witch-doctor#kcUjYP!bae!YaZbcb
With 1H and Fetish the breakpoint is at 1100 mana before Attunement. With a 2H it's around 900. Above this and it works out better than VQ for sustained damage on Bats, and conveniently doesn't require that I stop and cast every few seconds (especially against fast or Shielding mobs, that may be hard to tag) In a group I swap some of my stuff out for poison and drop Fortitude for Medicine to benefit everyone else.
What I like is that I'm actually messing with builds now. Previously there was only negligible differences among the primary builds and a notable lack of progress among anything that wasn't Splinters, Bats, or Bears. Now, even though I still use the Bats as my main striker, the build is VASTLY different than the current models yet still looking both effective and achievable. Good times
I guess you have a point. The idea on my end was to enable other builds, since you could then smooth out your cooldown use. However, it seems much more likely that Spiritual Attunement would be buffed for this purpose.
0-1 CD: no bonus
2 CDs: 75%
3 CDs: 150%
4 CDs: 300%
5 CDs: 450%
... and I would use it like crazy in 3-CD builds.
Ruppgu, I share your thoughts there. We need the ability to keep a couple of our buffs up more by default, or at the very least on a more constant basis. Making BBV work more like Hex is a good start, IMHO, especially when paired with the VQ change above.
They've stated the Dogs and Gargantuan are getting significant buffs, which is very good. They're iconic class spells (err... as much as can be in a game this young, anyway), and being able to actually use them will be quite the relief for me. Really, as long as they can provide me with 10 seconds against a standard Elite by default (I understand that bad luck facing off against certain DPS affixes will kill them quick), they will be worthwhile. Especially once Fortitude and Medicine come into play... (plotting and praying for this)