OK I’m not really sure how else to put this: As I look at how the game is actually played (the meta I guess you could call it), I’m really concerned that the talent system that the devs proposed today might not be doing what they want. I’m pretty critical of the proposed changes, so I’m going to do my best to explain why as clearly as possible. I’ll keep it civil of course and I ask that others do the same.
I’d like to start with Warrior. This is the one I’m a lot more confidant on because I’m a 20 warrior with over 100 hours, and a 1 ranger with 0 hours.
I’ll start by saying I think the core idea here was sound, and I really agree with it. It seems like the goal here was to really neatly separate warrior into two sub classes - one where it functions as a DPS class on the same level as the other classes, and another where it functions as a tank. I really like this. I personally really enjoy damage warrior and I’m glad to see the buffs here are so strong. They seem to be a bit stronger than the ranger buffs, at least on paper, so it will be cool to see damage warriors work as a viable DPS pick for this reason. I know a lot of people want to be able to play a melee DPS class.
The added safety/damage to tank seems sound as well. Tank is doing fine and isn’t in need of a massive buff, but I expect these talent trees will buff every class so the extra perks on tank warrior seem fair.
The BIG issue with these changes in my opinion are the fact that they don’t improve how warrior is played in any meaningful way. These are just stat rewards you get for spamming your usual wound/provoke into shield bash rotation anyway. There are a few abilities in here that shake things up a small amount, such as the “raise your sword above your head” ability, but this is just a damage increase anyway. It’s not triggered just by doing your usual combo, so that’s nice, but it isn’t enough on it’s own to spice up the class the way I think a lot of people were hoping for.
At the moment, playing a hybrid DPS/Tank warrior is viable, complicated, and fun in my opinion. I don’t think this should be the case though. I definitely agree with having a hard split that brings warrior into two different sub classes, but both of those sub-classes need to be at least as interesting as hybrid warrior is now. I know a lot of people on here don’t necessarily agree with that opinion, but I think that even hard tank players would agree that they were hoping for a bit more complexity out of this update. - Things like a threat meter and new skills to make tanking more engaging, not just stat rewards for doing the sorts of things you do already.
Finally, why do I now have to pay dram to switch playstyles? This seems like less of a nerf and more like it would be an insult to my time. Up until now, warriors could use any playstyle they wanted simply by switching shields, but now they’re gimped unless they go to highsteppe and pay some dude on top of that? I don’t understand the rationale behind this. If the devs wanted class switching to be hard, why did they tie classes to inventory items? And if they want it to be easy, why implement this? Why is it easy for us to change our class but not our builds within that class? That seems like it would be extremely frustrating if implemented. Please do not do this.
Next, Ranger.
OK I’m not a ranger, so I’m more willing to admit I may be wrong with my evaluation here, but something seems smelly about these changes.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the main issue with ranger right now is that the optimal viable way to do damage is by spamming arrows, correct? And the main complaint is that very few people like doing this because it’s unrealistic and unimmersive.
I’m looking at these numbers and I’m not seeing how this would bring a slower paced archer past or even approaching the damage of an arrow spammer. The numbers here seem like an even buff on both sides. My guess is that if this went live, nobody would change playstyles.
Even if the numbers were adjusted here and the dps was completely even for both playstyles, can I honestly ask if there’s anyone who enjoys arrow spamming over regular archery? Are these people out there? Because it seems like an unimmersive RSI risk to everyone I’ve talked to about it. Maybe people will come out of the woodwork and reply in favor of this style, but if not, it might be worth rethinking ranger as a whole beyond just fire rate.
All in all, I’ll be honest, classes are tricky. They’re the entire foundation for all the combat in the game. It will take a while to get them right I’m sure. I hope these builds aren’t too set in stone, and that they adapt over a few iterations. Thanks again for having the balls to post these builds devs, and sorry the feedback on my end had to be so critical.