0.9.2 schedule and my feelings on 0.9.1 balance

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Utukku wrote:

And I don't really agree about the aoe things for ranger since Split + Pierce + MP + KB is really strong if you put the effort in getting a good 50+ bow.

Combining almost any skill (all the ones I've tried at least) with a multiple projectiles gem will at the very least double the mana cost. I've found it hard to impossible to keep up with.

only reason why shock nova is the skill witches spam is because we have no other AoE skills that are as good as it.

i dont remember much of the Sorc from diablo 2, but i know that cold/fire/lightning all had plenty of aoe skills and were all good.

here's a thought Chris, and devs, maybe we're getting the AoE skills too early? maybe make the AoE skills quest reward only and you only get your first one when you kill Merveil. and by AoE i mean the big nova skills. so by making plenty of viable lightning/fire/ice Conal skills, Merveils second form and groups of mobs in act 1 wont be as tough compared to having no AoE.

cuzz i feel that getting shock nova so early is a bit of a problem.

i have noticed that the more the mana pots get nerfed the harder it is to keep up with a purely magic char such as a witch or a templar it is very annoying to have to spam the mana button just to use your spell 10-12 time's in a row
and since those char's have little to no Defence they have to be able to kill fast maybe drop some of the mana cost for the intel. char's would be nice other than that great job guy's on the game good job keeping up on the fixes

thanks for the update Chris

Hi,

At the moment, only being able to put a point on conjoint passive skills is a big problem for classes trying to branch out. After a certain level, a small section of skills on all (4) sides should be opened up so that one can pick any of those passives. Otherwise, having to go from the beginning detracts players from putting points in anything except their intended tree.

While there is talk about intelligence skills (spells) being nerfed and other being buffed, there hasn't been any mention on what the melee classes can expect. When rangers get their evasion fixed, they'll be all (not just Pyrocon and Wonderbread for the SC leagues) rocking up there with the witches.

Does it bother noone that there are 3 dualists in the top 50? (again, SC)? No dualists or marauders in the top 10? As things are now, melee really isn't a viable option if you plan on grinding towards the level cap. Killing speed is WAY too low (and I got over 380dps according to the broken charsheet). Whether this is because of ridiculous hp/armor amounts at merciless mobs (chaos) or because the damage output a melee char gen generate isn't up to par with ranged classes. There is no way a melee character is going to damage the entire 'screen' like a witch, ranger or hybrid class does. Shouldn't there be something to compensate this?

It took about 3 hours constant grinding for my marauder to get from lvl 54->55. Plus I have to keep regenerating the chaos instance, hoping for an instance with few/no ranged enemies. And even then you might get critted on your weak spot for maximum damage, which loses you about 45 min play time (if you die). No fun. I'll go level my witch now :/.

Nice to hear Chris. I enjoy playing Ranger. Good news on the upcoming update.

A guided arrow could be fun! :-)

Need stronger aoe. make poison slow/hitstun in aoe.

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Chris wrote:

b) The lack of good AoE Ranger skills.

There is nothing wrong with poison arrow and split arrow as the main ranger AoE skills, they just lack damage on ruthless and merciless.
The way I see it poison arrow should be the rangers go-to spell for swarms of small enemies, such as the apes in dread thicket. So get rid of the huge upfront damage the arrow does and increase the damage over time from the poison clowd.
On the other hand, split arrow is the ranger's spell for killing medium sized groups of normal enemies. So cap the maximum number of arrows at five or six and buff the damage the arrows do at higher levels.

Are we really satisfied in a game that is touting over 100 skills to only have 2 viable skills for a class? Obviously we don't know all the skills coming out, but I know for sure if there is only 2-3 viable skills per class there will be problems.