[Ask the Dev] Elemental Equilibrium Keystone

I'm usually a big fan of complex, deep mechanics, but the way this keystone works (or is supposed to) is so convoluted and counter intuitive that I'm really left to wonder if it's worth being in the skill tree in its current state... There has to be a way to make the whole thing more "elegant" if you will.

And by and large, being a Templar is already pretty unexciting keystone-wise :/

"

Noobshock wrote:

I'm usually a big fan of complex, deep mechanics, but the way this keystone works (or is supposed to) is so convoluted and counter intuitive that I'm really left to wonder if it's worth being in the skill tree in its current state... There has to be a way to make the whole thing more "elegant" if you will.

And by and large, being a Templar is already pretty unexciting keystone-wise :/

Funny, I always thought it should be nerfed somewhat, it's a bit harder to use than most setups but pays off with interest. If you use it right you can make characters that kill so quick it's not even fun.

Thanks for the initial 2 posts. Explained all my questions thoroughly. For partying, seems like you could easily reduce a resistance by over 100% for your team:

-50% from this(example: an ice spell with cold to fire. resistances are unchanged for your ice and fire, but allies can exploit the -50% lightning)
-plus two elemental curses(the specific element one and the all-elements one. My guess is at least 30% reduction each.)

I assume a -100% resistance on an enemy means you do double damage with that element.

Maybe if there was an easier way to alternate between two different attacks? I imagine I might consider this if I could just hold down a single button and still take advantage of this skill.

Ok, i understand how EE works.. what i don't understand is What type of build is even viable for this type of keystone? besides using a totem for the off elemental damage because thats kinda lame..

Now something like a glacial hammer and infernal blow alternation would be really sweet, but how does that interact if you are using auras such as anger/hatred...both of the attacks would have fire and cold damage..

honestly it just seems like sooo much thought and work for not much gain.. personally as long as elemental weakness is around(and now all these new gems) EE is a useless keystone to me

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if a build hits with all 3 elements on every attack, which isnt hard at all, wouldnt it be -25% to all resistances for each hit?

All it requires is weapon based skills with some elemental damage on rings or whatever.

In organised groups which plan using this keystone, it adds a massive group dynamic which you can't get from anywhere else. It allows one character to take a damage reduction while other characters gain a small damage bonus, but restricting the elements the other players can use.

For this reason I don't think the mechanics should be fundamentally changed, apart from a slight percent increase (possibly from extra nodes after the skill).

"

Rnew1990 wrote:

Ok, i understand how EE works.. what i don't understand is What type of build is even viable for this type of keystone? besides using a totem for the off elemental damage because thats kinda lame..

Now something like a glacial hammer and infernal blow alternation would be really sweet, but how does that interact if you are using auras such as anger/hatred...both of the attacks would have fire and cold damage..

honestly it just seems like sooo much thought and work for not much gain.. personally as long as elemental weakness is around(and now all these new gems) EE is a useless keystone to me

You could use EE with weapon based skills, but it would be really difficult to do so and would require great sacrifices. The elemental damage mods on your weapon/armor do affect EE for weapon skills. Also Wrath/Anger/Hatred affect EE for weapon skills. So you have to do a lot of gear restriction and Aura restriction to use EE effectively.

Ideally you would use EE with spells (even the flavor text says something to that effect), because spells are neither affected by Elemental mods on gear nor are they affected Auras. This makes the elemental damage you are dealing much more controllable.

Please correct me if I am wrong, I am assuming the "Adds x-y <element> damage" on a jewelry item extends to spells which I admittedly have yet to look up.

So lets assume the following, I have:
A ring which adds fire damage
A ring which adds lightning damage
An amulet which adds cold damage

With the above set-up EE will never trigger.

If I remove the ring which adds fire damage, this skill will always lower fire resist only. If I cast fire it will not trigger (Contains all three elements), if I cast cold it will up cold and lightning resists and if I cast lightning it will up lightning and cold.

Edit: I checked in game, the above items seem to only adjust my melee stats. If these only mod melee, it may be good to change the text to "Adds x-y <element> damage to Physical Attacks"