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Blizzard on 2.4 Druid Werewolf and Werebear attack speed changes

druid Werewolf and Werebear

Players are currently getting a taste of Diablo 2 Resurrected patch 2.4 on the PTR and Blizzard is now addressing concerns on some of the changes. In this case, it’s the Werewolf and Werebear attack speed.

Hi all –

We have seen a bunch of discussion and some confusion regarding some of the changes in PTR for the WW and WB attack speed. The dev team wanted to get a note out regarding the motivations behind this change and some clarification. You can read that below.


Since the Druid was introduced in 2001, the attack speed calculation for Werewolf and Werebear forms has been… quirky. The attack speed contributions of the equipped weapon were used multiple times in the calculation, giving them more than twice the impact compared with other attack speed calculations. This quirky calculation involving the weapon attack speed would also ignore the usual IAS cap. In the PTR, we have changed the attack speed calculation for Werewolf and Werebear forms to match other attack speed calculations. Weapon attack speed will be given the same importance in the calculation as for any other player character’s attack speed. In fact, the Werebear’s attack speed should exactly match the attack speed for an untransformed Druid. The base Werewolf attack speed also matches the untransformed Druid, but is enhanced by the IAS bonuses from the Werewolf skill.

Motivations:
There are a few motivations for this change:

  1. Because of the extraordinary weight weapon attack speed had on transformed attack speeds, high weapon attack speed was overwhelmingly the most important consideration for which weapon to equip. This change should encourage more diversity in weapon selection.
  2. The quirky attack speed calculation was a poor player experience for those not in the know – in particular at lower levels of play without optimized weapons. While this change has reduced attack speed when using weapons with very high IAS, it has increased attack speed for the majority of weapons – especially weapons encountered at lower levels of play.

We would like to encourage PTR players to experiment with different weapon choices for their Werewolf and Werebear forms. It is not our intent to reduce the viability of the transformed Druid. We will be looking at ways to improve the performance of the transformed Druid without sacrificing the benefits obtained from unifying the attack speed calculations.


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maxicek

Moderator

8,072 messages 2,581 likes

Druid human IAS speeds are horrendous. This is spin because they messed something up.

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snickersnack

Well-known member

7,496 messages 1,430 likes
Because of the extraordinary weight weapon attack speed had on transformed attack speeds, high weapon attack speed was overwhelmingly the most important consideration for which weapon to equip. This change should encourage more diversity in weapon selection.

^ BLUE tag isn't working when shown below the article.
Uhhhh, I see that as less diversity. They're making weapon choices more homogeneous across classes and builds. It's good if some skills rely more on IAS than others. This is a bad change IMO - most especially since I see the effect as the opposite of the claimed motivation..

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snickersnack

Well-known member

7,496 messages 1,430 likes

Druid human IAS speeds are horrendous. This is spin because they messed something up.

I agree. This is a bad change and the move makes much more sense if this is the best they could do to fix/cover some problem that they aren't telling us about.

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snickersnack

Well-known member

7,496 messages 1,430 likes
The quirky attack speed calculation was a poor player experience for those not in the know

What? Then put a note in a tooltip or skill description: "weapon IAS affects this skill more than others," done.

This is a flimsy excuse for nerfing a build, but it's one that was used extensively in D3. It'd be great if blizz worked with the assumption that players aren't stupid.

I have a suspicion though, that they're trying to homogenize some of the systems and calculations because they plan on adding either a new class or new mechanics.

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Vang

PurePremium

3,142 messages 849 likes
The quirky attack speed calculation was a poor player experience for those not in the know

What? Then put a note in a tooltip or skill description: "weapon IAS affects this skill more than others," done.

This is a flimsy excuse for nerfing a build, but it's one that was used extensively in D3. It'd be great if blizz worked with the assumption that players aren't stupid.

I have a suspicion though, that they're trying to homogenize some of the systems and calculations because they plan on adding either a new class or new mechanics.

Werebear already had issues. Awesome. Less attack speed. Keep up the great work.

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Sopper

Well-known member

2,886 messages 432 likes

It can be ok If ias from other gear now works and contributes in ww form, anyone that tested in ptr?

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maxicek

Moderator

8,072 messages 2,581 likes

Werebear already had issues. Awesome. Less attack speed. Keep up the great work.

Werebear would get an 9 Frame attack with an Oath Berserker Axe (50IAS) and 25 off weapon IAS.
Human Druid needs 194IAS to get to 10FPA with a Berserker Axe.

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Sopper

Well-known member

2,886 messages 432 likes

9 frame is ugly :sleep:

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maxicek

Moderator

8,072 messages 2,581 likes

9 frame is ugly :sleep:

I picked a realistic weapon that is easy to put together. Compare it to the 13FPA the human druid gets for the same FPA.

Wait for the dual dream sorcs to start complaining when they find out they are capped at 10FPA with a Phase Blade (assuming they use the normal sorc breakpoints)

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