Bring back left click for Withering Step!

Although I disagree with the "instant skill" nerf, I at least understand the thought behind it as far as pure combat skills like Vortex are concerned.

However, Withering Step is a movement skill and a movement skill that DOESN'T make you move when you press it feels like a bad joke.

Having to press a so-called movement skill first, and then separately click to move doesn't really change gampeplay in any meaningful way, it just makes it more clunky and annoying. Right now it behaves more like a warcry than a movement skill - giving you a buff but not moving your character.

I actually didn't know this until I've seen your post.

What an absolute joke, GGG. So you can put stuff like Dash in there but not Withering Step? What is the logic here?

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HaraldMKutscher wrote:

However, Withering Step is a movement skill and a movement skill that DOESN'T make you move when you press it feels like a bad joke.

Then don't use Withering Step? Because that's just what it does - give you a buff - and that has nothing to do with the change to left-click casting. If you want a movement skill that actively moves you rather than just buffing your movement, you're welcome to use one of those instead.

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Ydoum wrote:

So you can put stuff like Dash in there but not Withering Step? What is the logic here?

The logic there is that Dash has a cast time whereas Withering Step is instant.

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GusTheCrocodile wrote:

Because that's just what it does - give you a buff - and that has nothing to do with the change to left-click casting.

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Ydoum wrote:

So you can put stuff like Dash in there but not Withering Step? What is the logic here?

The logic there is that Dash has a cast time whereas Withering Step is instant.

To maintain that logic, a formal reclassification as a Warcry would be necessary - with all the interactions and build options a Warcry has. But that didn't happen, it still has the "travel" and "movement" tags and no "warcry" tag. And it is still instant and without cast time, only clunkier.

Since outside of handling the skill remained unchanged, I absolutely don't see the design point of making the handling clunkier - it's just a QOL reduction without any meaning for gameplay. As opposed to combat skills like Vortex - here the thought obviously was to reestablish a balance with other skills that require you to stand still, aim and cast/attack. Which slows you down and makes you a sitting duck during the process. This doesn't apply to Whithering Step working the same way, only QOL-reduced.

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HaraldMKutscher wrote:

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GusTheCrocodile wrote:

Because that's just what it does - give you a buff - and that has nothing to do with the change to left-click casting.

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Ydoum wrote:

So you can put stuff like Dash in there but not Withering Step? What is the logic here?

The logic there is that Dash has a cast time whereas Withering Step is instant.

To maintain that logic, a formal reclassification as a Warcry would be necessary

What a strange thing to say. Not all buffs are warcries. Molten Shell isn't a warcry. Blood Rage isn't a warcry. Berserk isn't a warcry. Etc etc. Warcries are also specifically not spells, and have a use time, whereas Withering Step is a spell and doesn't have a use time. There have been buff skills in the game since before there were warcries. There is simply no reason a skill has to be a warcry just because it grants a buff.

As far as I can tell, the design goal is to reassert that players actively and intentionally using their character's skills is the normal case. You can still automate Withering Step if you want to, but it now will cost you a support gem slot. I think that's pretty reasonable, and given how mad so many people are about this change, I think they know that's a pretty powerful thing for a support gem to be able to offer.

I don't really see how controlling the character's abilities is such an unreasonable request from an RPG. The game has had you pressing QWERT to use skills since its inception, but suddenly people are acting like that's some kind of personal affront. It's silly.

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GusTheCrocodile wrote:

Not all buffs are warcries. Molten Shell isn't a warcry. Blood Rage isn't a warcry. Berserk isn't a warcry. Etc etc. Warcries are also specifically not spells, and have a use time, whereas Withering Step is a spell and doesn't have a use time. There have been buff skills in the game since before there were warcries. There is simply no reason a skill has to be a warcry just because it grants a buff.

As far as I can tell, the design goal is to reassert that players actively and intentionally using their character's skills is the normal case.

Of course not all buffs need to come from warcries, as long as they are a byproduct of another meaningful mechanic like charges or banners or rage. As long as the "movement" skill Withering Step actually moved your character and gave you the buff as a byproduct it also made sense. If something just gives you a buff and does nothing else, I don't see why it shouldn't be classified as warcry for the sake of build an skill tree consistency, but that's really another topic.

I just made the whole post because it seems too bizarre to have a movement skill that doesn't move you, so I assumed the Devs only wanted to nerf Vortex etc. and accidentally also hit Withering Step as an unintended collateral damage. If that's the case the Dev's hereby are informed about the problem; in case it was a conscious design choice I know it's pointelss to discuss it any further.