I don't play D2R, so I won't be affected by the changes.
But based on the
skill census work that I had so much fun writing about last year, I'm very happy with the announced changes. I'm tickled that they will implement my proposal for Increased Stamina as a duration synergy to Frenzy, even though it's not quite as lengthy as I suggested. I'm also happy about their attention to Impale, Bone Armor, Ravens, Grim Ward, and many more.
Many years ago, I worked pretty hard to make Patriarch with an Arctic Blast druid. I'm a tiny bit sad about that skill losing its Hurricane synergy, but I'm optimistic that players will now enjoy other variant build possibilities involving that skill.
I also have mixed feelings about the Death Sentry synergy changes, but I understand why they're focusing on making DS as a fire skill that sometimes shoots lightning, rather than a lightning skill that prefers to make 'splodies.
Although they worked on most of the underused skills, I'm still very disappointed that they continue to ignore the assassin's Psychic Hammer skill. Am I missing an incentive to pump that skill? Maybe there's a PvP strategy for maxed PH that I just don't observe as a player that prefers PvM/PvE? In my not-so-humble opinion, PH will continue to be a perpetual one-point-wonder, unless this or another patch finds a synergy, or some other appropriate improvement, for pumping it higher. (For example, I think each point in PH should add a magic damage synergy to Mind Blast.) That's not the only shadow discipline that should have been addressed. I think the crippling diminishing returns on Weapon Block remain a disincentive for maxing it. I also think Shadow Warrior and Shadow Master should synergize each other in some manner, maybe with respect to each respective minion's life, defense, resistances, or perhaps even the gear with which they spawn. This would provide additional build ideas for maxing both, instead of just one or the other. There are issues with Cloak of Shadows that could have been addressed as well, such as its variable casting delay that increases with skill level. (Did they fix the the foul crow nest CoS game-crashing bug yet?) Anyway, I respectfully dissent from the developers' comment, "
We felt that Shadow Disciplines are generally widely used and effective."
I'm
very pleased with all of the announced tooltip changes. Code that openly and accurately communicates with players about the game they're playing, while they're playing it, is exactly the polish we should expect from Blizzard Entertainment. They've had a hard season, what with toxic workplace behaviors and lawsuits and pending acquisition and so forth. These patch architects and developers deserve commendations for continuing to find ways like this to deliver good results to their demanding customers.
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