I think the game was just flat out better before 1.10, in basically every way possible.
Back on topic, specific PVP modes would be amazing. I keep repeating this, but multiple teams fighting over d clone would be insanely fun, and at that point, coming up with a winning composition and strategy would be quite incredible.
I’ve always loved D2 PVP, but I totally understand why many don’t. The game didn’t have insanely deep skill mechanics, so little things like the direction you walk can make or break the match. Seriously, things that small decide who wins, mostly because players can deal such an insane amount of damage to one another, but also because the skills are quite simple.
That isn’t necessarily bad, but it’s definitely specific and niche. For pvp specific modes, I’d probably double the pvp damage debuff, and essentially cut the damage to players in half, to allow for deeper, more meaningful engagements, where large sequences can happen.
Right now, a barb vs hammerdin duel looks like this: The barb knows what he’s doing, and ww’s in the same direction the hammers travel to avoid being hit, as the pally telestomps. The tactic works, and the barb one shots the pally.
Or like this: The pally feints the telestomp by stopping just shy, and baits the ww out of the barb. The pally is able to get a handful of hammers off, and all of them connect, killing the barb.
Honestly, the combat just doesn’t allow for prolonged encounters. In games with great PVP, both of those scenarios would have happened in the same engagement, and they’d walk away with 50-75% hp, wondering what they should do next, and potentially using skills other than teleport and a single damage ability.
Granted, Blizz won’t change the pvp mechanics of skills, so the best we can hope for is team based pvp modes, which will add quite a bit of depth all on its own. And honestly, even if they wanted to change skills and add a layer of depth to the pvp by doing so, they might just mess things up, because Blizz has sucked for a very long time now.
In a recent poll, over 60% of the people who voted said pvp mattered to them in some capacity, and a substantial amount said pvp was the main reason they played D2.
I personally think there are much better pvp experiences out there, but if people love D2 PVP, there’s nothing wrong with that. And honestly, there’s somethign special about building a character from the ground up, allocating stat points, picking all of your gear, theorycrafting for hours, and then finally putting it to the test against another player who has done something similar.
