Path of Exile: Echoes of the Atlas Gem Information

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alphabobo wrote:

I'm curious, and this isn't meant to be combative by any means. On this thread, and the Manifesto thread, there are many players who are complaining that certain skills haven't been nerfed (ie., molten strike). Or, that they're gleeful about Aurastackers and OP Spectre builds being nerfed. My question: why do you care? I mean, I play standard league, and rarely, if ever, party. I don't give two licks whether another character is OP or not. It just doesn't matter to me. I look at those as a character to attain to.

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Bellaluna1722 wrote:

I've seen a lot of 'this game isn't solo play' arguments to justify being rude to others and bashing their opinions too.

At its core, it is solo play, with the option to party up. I, myself, party up with my husband most of the time whenever he's in the mood to play. Otherwise, I like to solo play too to have all my portals. I play both league and standard - I wish std retained everything legacy since it has no effect on constant league players instead of suffering from repeated wipes and changes).

Seeing league players mock and ridicule Std is just a show of ill-will ignorance. A whole lot more people play Std than it is believed. Yes, the economy isn't the best but it is far from being a dumpster.

I just don't get the mocking of people playing Necromancers and other strong builds voicing their displeasure. If you don't play those builds, then fine. Just don't bash people who do. Instead, voice your views on the nerfs or buffs to those builds you do play.

I've played melee cyclone. I've played toxic rain/ice shot bowyers. I've played Ancestral Warchief Totems. I've played hierophant spell totems (Arc mostly) and elemental hit totems. I've played saboteur ball lightning trapper. I've played Whispering Ice Cycloner scion/witch/marauder depending on leagues. I've tried zombie/spectres/skellies Necro - never quite got into it but I do like minions builds for the change of pace (not because I'm a one-cell no brainer drooling player, that's rude AF to say that). I've even played bane pop occultist.

As you can see, I've tried many different builds, decent range. I don't really have much love for melee but that's personal and that carries over to other games as well.

My most successful build was Harvest Carrion Golem as Elemancer (not the aura stack Necro version), followed closely by Deadeye Ice Shot and Ngamahu's Fire Slayer Cycloner/Whispering Ice Scion. Look at my charries and their levels...all around lvl 90 ish. The ones lower than were less played or duplicates of the same builds from one league to another.

I'm disappointed in a lot of the nerfs and rework, not going to lie. But, what I'm furious about is the lack of transparent communication from the higher ups. What was presented as buffs and balance were in reality blanketed nerfs otherwise worded to soften the blows. The dishonesty about it or attempted masquerade is galling, and his is coming from someone who absolutely loves PoE. I may no have a lot of supporter packs to my name but I've bought plenty of stash tabs and mtx to support GGG.

Looking at the gems and patch notes, there has been very little give and take to be found. Lots of take, little compensation.

Now, I'm super happy with the new content. It's always nice and welcome. I just don't particularly feel that it offsets the negative from the ascendencies/skill nerfs.

Some could have been balanced differently. In example, the aura stacking. Instead of gutting the non-aura stackers, they could have simply imposed limits to address the issue.

Example no 2: nerfing carrion golems + spectres lvl + cluster notables + damage was a bit overkill. It will find a way to survive and do decent, I'm sure. Overkill nonetheless. Why not buff the other golems to being them on par and widen the minion choice then

Example no 3: hierophant losing their ability to drop 2 totems at once instead of just 1. Why? The multiple totem support gem is nice and all but it has a caveat that affects damage, hence why it was ignored most of the time.

Example no 4: Assassin losing their mov speed... I don't play Ass but I feel for those who do.

Those are just a few examples.

I do think the balance is heavily influenced by streamers having no problem finding ways to abuse interactions. And it should not be because in the end, the average player does get punished as collateral damage. I like a lot of streamers; this isn't an attack on them or placing the blame strictly on their shoulders. Ultimately, I think the devs should widen their horizons for feedback and take some from the general playerbase too.

I get the outrage, especially in view of the expansion being boss-killing oriented yet the league being clear mob packs-oriented. Attaining a balance for both isn't as clear cut as people seem to believe.

With that being said, we will adapt and find ways to recoup somehow. We may not agree on everything but that's no reason to drop civility and respect.