Request to revisit the Drought Bringer mod

TL;DR - The previous nemesis mod, Nullifier, presented a great challenge to Pathfinder characters in the Hardcore league but there were ways to counter it. The new counterpart mod, Drought Bringer, not only increased the threat but it also removed the options for counter-play.

Previously, the Nullifier nemesis mod presented a threat to any character using flasks, especially to those for whom flasks are a primary layer of both offense and defense, e.g. Pathfinders. It was possible, however, to handle this mod at different levels:

(1) Maps that roll with the Nemesis mod could be avoided if one chooses to.
(2) If you choose to do the map, then you are at least aware of the possibility that a Nullifier monster is present so you stay vigilant.
(3) When you encountered a Nullifier, that particular modifier from the pool had a distinct visual or text effect that could be scanned for and potentially reacted to.
(4) When you finally got close enough to a Nullifier, you could still get tactical and find some reprieve until you can land the kill.

None of this applies to the new Drought Bringer mod.

Nullifier was a real archnemesis to Pathfinders already. DB, on the other hand, did not only increase its threat but it also shut down the very few avenues that were available for counter-play.

Differences:

- Nullifier removed flask effects on hit. DB removes them by merely being in the vicinity of the player.
- Nullifier removed flask charges on hit. DB drains them by merely being in the vicinity of the player.
- Nullifier did not prevent the player from gaining flask charges. DB does as long as it's in the vicinity of the player.
- Nullifier could be anticipated through the "Map contains monsters with Nemesis modifiers" map mod. DB is in the core pool and now ever present, so the player has to constantly stay vigilant, which I won't do as this is still a game.
- Nullifier could be somewhat scanned for in-map. DB from what I saw had no distinct visual effect, unlike Vampiric and other archnemesis mods.

I hope you can be objective in your analysis. This is not a cry from challenge, but rather I'm hoping I can make you see how this may hav slipped through the cracks and into the realm of the unfair.

POE's Pathfinder is an original and unique archetype that I came to love. Please don't take it away as an option for hardcore.

My account: falfool
My Pathfinder characters in order of last played:

- HC Sentinel, Karaz - level 64
- HC Archnemesis, SolidStateSociety - level 100
- HC Scourge, final_lemon - level 99
- HC Ritual, Kalamantina - level 98

Thank you.

I echo these thoughts as well

Gave this a read and sums up my thoughts pretty closely

Yeah I think some of the mods were fine when you could control if they showed up. It being random makes the game feel really bad and there is nothing the player can do.

As I mentioned somewhere else, this mod is a triple-nerf style related to any flask build - you can't generate flask charges, you lose flask charges, you lose flask effects on you. And you can only really try to counter flask charges loss, not the other two. Hope it will get changed to only flask charge removal aura or even removing few flask charges on hit effect.