D2R Proposal 5 - Druid - Arctic Blast - Penguins

General Discussion
1

4K Poster

https://i.ibb.co/jff6yqG/d2r-proposal-5-arctic-blast.jpg

D2 Planner

https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/i541t06c

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Polar Breath

Level 1 Gloves

  • Gain the Skill Penguin, a Summon that casts your Arctic Blast
  • +1% To Arctic Blast Vulnerability per Penguin Missile Hit
  • -1% To Enemy Cold Resistance per Penguin Missile Hit
  • +1% Penguin Damage per Cold Resist 1% on Items
  • +50 Maximum Skill Points to Arctic Blast
  • +30% Faster Cast Rate to Arctic Blast
  • +2 Jets of Ice to Arctic Blast
  • +1 to Arctic Blast

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Explainer

  • Fantasy: Penguins, Arctic Blast, Any class
  • Best attributes: -X% to Enemy Cold Resistance, Cold Resist +X%
  • Gameplay: N Penguins use your Arctic Blast
  • Penguin: Basically like Spirit Wolf, but without skill points, so it evolves with character’s level
  • Penguin casts your Arctic Blast: Player can move while its Arctic Blast is cast by its Penguins
  • +1% to Arctic Blast Vulnerability: Exponentially increases Arctic Blast Damage
  • -1% to Enemy Cold Resistance per missile: Diminishing returns as Enemy’s resistance cannot fall under zero
  • +1% Penguin Damage per Cold Resist Percent on items: Stack Cold Resist +X% to increase Penguin Damage
  • +50 Maximum Skill Points to Arctic Blast: Rather than only 20, Player can now spend 20 + 50 = 70 skill points
  • +30% Faster Cast Rate to Arctic Blast: Reactivity when changing direction
  • +2 Jets of Ice: Damage Surface (wider cone)
  • +1 to Artic Blast: Arctic Blast at Level 1, for any class (Penguin decreases Enemy Cold Resistance)
  • Cold Rupture: Cold Immunity Sundered, but Cold Resist -70%
  • Yellow Belt + 2 Yellow Rings: Cold Resist +90% (3 x 30%)
  • Yellow Boots : Cold Resist +40%
  • Yellow Amulet: Cold Resist +40%, +2 to Elemental Skills
  • Hearth: Cold Resist +60%
  • Steel Carapace: Cold Resist +60%
  • Medusa’s Gaze: Cold Resist +80%
  • Small Charms: Cold Resist +11%
  • Grand Charms: Cold Resist +30% (Better than +1 to Elemental Skills)
  • Rainbow Facet Jewel: +5% to Cold Skill Damage, -5% to Enemy Cold Resistance
  • Doom: -60% to Enemy Cold Resistance

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Inspiration:

D2R: Arctic Blast

https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Arctic_Blast
https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Arctic_Blast_(monster_skill)
https://youtu.be/BCmnkJ01XeA?t=57

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D2R: Cold Resist

https://diablo2.io/uniques/
https://diablo2.io/runewords/

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Dreamworks: Penguins of Madagascar

https://i.ibb.co/xM3d6mt/91-FLe-Gx8u-VL-AC-UF1000-1000-QL80-1.jpg

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Penguins

28 types of Penguins illustrated:
https://www.aquarium.co.za/news/28-types-of-penguin-the-only-list-youll-ever-need

My favorite is the Chinstrap Penguin.
Who’s yours ?

Photos of Penguins

  • https://ibb.co/LQrFs9k
  • https://ibb.co/c3W7qyv
  • https://ibb.co/ctfyXmw
  • https://ibb.co/Yc1K692
  • https://ibb.co/VSJs91s
  • https://ibb.co/4TK0mnJ
  • https://ibb.co/hgRPFZD
  • https://ibb.co/X3VSkyh
  • https://ibb.co/j3Dc4LV
  • https://ibb.co/S07CYtc
  • https://ibb.co/R43zKmQ
  • https://ibb.co/B4S6w17
  • https://ibb.co/VJ9k85F
  • https://ibb.co/5KVsf7y
  • https://ibb.co/TWHj5BR
  • https://ibb.co/xsmc0Xj
  • https://ibb.co/54mQ27v
  • https://ibb.co/VJZNNnV
  • https://ibb.co/yyzry8t
  • https://ibb.co/dggb0YF
  • https://ibb.co/qDzJp4d
  • https://ibb.co/JFYF2Pq
  • https://ibb.co/jrqP842
  • https://ibb.co/q7LGVvL
  • https://ibb.co/Hr1CBF5
  • https://ibb.co/GdPJ9Wf
  • https://ibb.co/9vpYTXn

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Other proposals:
https://diablo-proposals.web.app/

2

Since Spirit Wolves already deal cold damage, give them the ability to cast Arctic Blast (and synergize).

3

Acceptable. :+1:

The item would be:

Polar Breath

Level 1 Gloves

  • Gain the Skill Penguin, a Summon that casts your Arctic Blast
  • Spirit Wolf casts your Arctic Blast
  • +1% To Arctic Blast Vulnerability per Spirit Wolf Missile Hit
  • -1% To Enemy Cold Resistance per Spirit Wolf Missile Hit
  • +1% Penguin Damage per Cold Resist 1% on Items
  • +50 Maximum Skill Points to Arctic Blast
  • +30% Faster Cast Rate to Arctic Blast
  • +2 Jets of Ice to Arctic Blast
  • +1 to Arctic Blast
  • +1 to Spirit Wolf

But

I wonder if a Spirit Wolf casting Arctic Blast would depreciate the existing Summoner Druid Build ?

That’s why I introduced a new pet (item skill) to begin with.

4

It depends on how such a change would be implemented.

If wolves cast their own Arctic Blast instead of attacking in melee, with damage still dependent on Spirit Wolf level (and Bear synergy), the existing summoner build would receive a buff: summons with ranged (AoE) attacks.

If wolves cast Druid’s Arctic Blast, then yes, the existing summoner build would be nerfed, as there would be not enough skill points to invest into Arctic Blast (and Cyclone Armor synergy). So this build would most likely skip Spirit Wolves (the only source of non-physical damage!) entirely and use the rest of the beasts, putting skill points in Spirit Wolves for synergy only. IMO to avoid such a situation, AR synergy should either be put elsewhere (Raven seems a good choice) or removed and base summons’ AR buffed to compensate that.

On the other hand, a new build could become possible, specializing in Arctic Blast (which no one currently uses) and Spirit Wolves, especially if those skills were cross-synergized.

5

I see.
It is more like an evolution of Spirit Wolf than Arctic Blast.
Arctic Blast would remain useless as a skill.
The goal of this proposal is to make Arctic Blast decent.

Yes.

My first try was to convert Raven into Penguins / Articuno.
But for many reasons that did not work.

As said on Diablo 2 Wiki:
https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Raven

Blizzard Q&A has described the Raven skill as ‘Attacks waiting to happen’

Which is a very special, dedicated mechanic.

what they mean is that the Ravens fly too high to be harmed, and continue attacking until their number of strikes have been spent.

Indeed, a Raven is dismissed after few hits.

The problem is, Arctic Blast is multi missile skill.
Which means it consumes lots of hits per second.
So the Raven would disappear after 1 second.

The multi missile skill nature of Arctic Blast can be seen in this video:
https://youtu.be/BCmnkJ01XeA?t=67

It cannot happen in the skill tree because:

  • Skills should not refer to others unless exceptions (synergy)
  • Synergies happen within the same tab
  • Elemental and Summoning are different tabs

I don’t think there is an example in the game of cross tab synergy, so I assume this is a tacit rule.

It needs to be defined on an item.

A Summon’s Arctic Blast, like Monster’s Artic Blast
https://diablo.fandom.com/wiki/Arctic_Blast_(monster_skill)
would then need to have its damage expressed as a multiplier of cold damage done by the Summon.

This is a valid option, but:

  • Arctic Blast is removed from the elemental tree
  • The existing Summoner Druid Build needs balance
  • The existing Summoner Druid Build will not exist outside this new feature

So rather than adding a build, it would destroy a skill and irremediably alter an existing build.

I’d prefer to add a new way to play, with limited impact on the existing builds.

In this case, Arctic Blast would be preserved, but multiplied by N % the Spirit Wolf Cold damage.

Same observation, valid option, but it would definitively alter the existing Summoner Druid Build.

I can’t tell if this is bad or wrong, or what are the expectations of players using the Summoner Druid Build.

But from a variety perspective, I’d prefer to keep untouched the existing Summoner Druid Build, and aside create a new build as an addition to the realm of possibilities.

In case the difficulty is the 3D model, then rather than a penguin it can be a White Wolf named “Arctic Wolf”. Same 3D model as Spirit Wolf, but different color.

6

Anyone else play Megaman X?

:stuck_out_tongue:

2 Likes
7

An arcade connoisseur ! :+1:

https://youtu.be/U1bpiFF5ZIM?t=191

8

Unless the developers coded it that one “hit” is consumes per cast, not per enemy hit by the skill. This is too obvious to be missed, and actually coding it per enemy hit instead of per cast would be more difficult.

There are already cross-tab synergies in the game, some even access two different tabs (like Sacrifice).

And I meant moving AR synergy from Spirit Wolf to Raven (same tab, even same “path”).

9

Another reason is… There is a proposal for Raven:

https://diablo-proposals.web.app/#_ravenstorm

:grinning: