Making Energy attribute relevant

General Discussion
1

Long read ahead so I organized it as much as I could. Feedback appreciated.

Problem

Problem: Energy attribute is the Black Sheep or the irrelevant attribute within Diablo 2. Seriously, no build, regardless of class, emphasizes putting points into Energy since there is no requirement or benefit in doing so. I mean yeah there is Energy Shield for the Sorceress but not everyone readily dumps everything they can spare into Energy since you’ll run afoul of the dreaded Blood Mana curse. So, the question then becomes, how do we make it relevant? Well, my solution is rather ambitious, and potentially radical. If you’re interested, feel free to keep reading.

Solution

Solution: Class Skills now come with an Energy Stat requirement. This requirement is based on two variables. 1) Tier of Skill(aka level 1, level 6, level 12, etc.) and 2) What level it happens to be.

The first component is the Tier of Skill. Every class has 30 Skills to allocate Skill points into. These Skills are broken down into three trees of 10 Skills that are differentiated by when they unlock. Some skills are available right away(level 1) while others are locked until you reach level 6, level 12, 18 and so on. Each respective threshold is effectively a Skill Tier so it’d be the following:

Tier 1 = Level 1
Tier 2 = Level 6
Tier 3 = Level 12
Tier 4 = Level 18
Tier 5 = Level 24
Tier 6 = Level 30

These Tiers all have a base Energy cost that are broken down as follows:

Tier 1 = 1 Energy
Tier 2 = 1.5 Energy rounded down
Tier 3 = 2 Energy
Tier 4 = 2.5 Energy rounded down
Tier 5 = 3 Energy
Tier 6 = 4 Energy

Now to determine a skill’s overall Energy stat requirement, the second variable comes into play: it’s current Skill level. If you invest 20 hard points into Fire Bolt, its current Skill level would of course be level 20. Since it’s a Tier 1 Skill, its Energy Stat requirement would be 1 * 20 = 20.

Now let’s say you dump 20 hard points into Meteor. Well Meteor is a Tier 5 Skill so 3 * 20 = 60 Energy requirement. Meaning if you don’t allocate points into Energy, Meteor will be completely unavailable to you, (aka Red like Equipment) and that’s no matter how much Mana you have on you. Should you have gear that grants +15 to Sorceress Skills, Meteor suddenly becomes level 35. Well 35 x 3 = 105 Energy Stat requirement. For a Sorceress that starts with 35 Energy, you never thought you’d actually have to put points into Energy to actually use your abilities now did you?

What about the Sorceress’ Mastery skills? Well, those are all Tier 6 skills and come with a hefty 4 Energy base requirement. Since most end-game Equipment layouts yield on average +18 to Sorceress Skills(excluding Skill GC’s), that would put the Energy Stat requirement on a maxed Fire/Cold/Lightning Mastery at 38 * 4 = 152 Energy. If you don’t have 152 into Energy, the Skill’s buff will not be applied.

Energy on Equipment?!

If you’re thinking wow, that’s a pretty nifty idea to make Energy relevant but that’s it to this madness right? Wrong. This Energy stat requirement applies to Equipment as well since quite a few items in Diablo 2 roll with the following characteristics or attributes:

CtC procs
X Aura when equipped
OSkills
Skill Charges
Rainbow Facets

CtC Procs

The first item is CtC or Chance to Cast procs. So many Uniques and especially RUNEWORDS in Diablo 2 have this attribute. Since Class Skills now have an Energy requirement, anything that has this attribute will now come with an Energy Requirement. For example, take Breath of the Dying:

50% Chance To Cast Level 20 Poison Nova When You Kill An Enemy
Indestructible
+60% Increased Attack Speed
+350-400% Enhanced Damage (varies)
+200% Damage To Undead
-25% Target Defense
+50 To Attack Rating
+50 To Attack Rating Against Undead
7% Mana Stolen Per Hit
12-15% Life Stolen Per Hit (varies)
Prevent Monster Heal
+30 To All Attributes
+1 To Light Radius
Requirements -20%

You’ll noticed I bolded the CtC proc of Poison Nova. Poison Nova is a level 30 or Tier 6 Skill. Meaning BotD would come with a 20 * 4 = 80 Energy Stat requirement. However, I also bolded the -20% Requirements that comes from the Hel rune. This attribute applies not just to Strength and Dexterity but also Energy. Meaning that 80 Energy requirement would then drop to 64.

X aura when equipped

Another example is Hands of Justice:

100% Chance To Cast Level 36 Blaze When You Level-Up
100% Chance To Cast Level 48 Meteor When You Die
Level 16 Holy Fire Aura When Equipped
+33% Increased Attack Speed
+280-330% Enhanced Damage (varies)
Ignore Target’s Defense
7% Life Stolen Per Hit
-20% To Enemy Fire Resistance
20% Deadly Strike
Hit Blinds Target
Freezes Target +3

Hands of Justice(HoJ) is an ideal example because it incorporates not just CtC procs but also the next item on my list in X aura when equipped. HoJ grants a level 16 Holy Fire aura. Since HF is a Tier 2 Skill, it only necessitates 24 points of Energy to be active, which isn’t much. Yet the major reason I highlighted HoJ is because of its CtC procs. Level 36 Blaze and Level 48 Meteor. Level 36 Blaze would require 36 * 2 = 72 Energy but that Level 48 Meteor requires a whopping 48 * 3 = 144 Energy.

Meaning if you wanted to use Hands of Justice on a Paladin, you’d need at least 144 Energy to equip it and is well above the level 25 Conviction aura Energy requirement of 100.

OSkills

The next Energy item attribute is OSkills. Now OSkills appear on a variety of Uniques and Runewords. The one I will highlight here is Dragonscale or the Unique Paladin Shield(Zakurum base). Dragonscale rolls with +10 to Hydra. Since Hydra is a Tier 6 Skill, it’d require 10 * 4 = 40 Energy to equip. YET, it may require more Energy to use since OSkills are affected by +All Skills. If your Hydra OSkill is level 20, then to use the Skill would require that your Energy be at 80, otherwise it’s Red/unavailable.

Another example is the runeword Chaos:

9% Chance To Cast Level 11 Frozen Orb On Striking
11% Chance To Cast Level 9 Charged Bolt On Striking
+35% Increased Attack Speed
+290-340% Enhanced Damage (varies)
Adds 216-471 Magic Damage
25% Chance of Open Wounds
+1 To Whirlwind
+10 To Strength
+15 Life After Each Demon Kill

You’ll notice that Chaos has two CtC procs that require 44 and 9 Energy respectively. Since Whirlwind is only a +1, the Claw will only require 44 Energy to equip. Whirlwind itself may require more Energy to use but for the purpose of equipping, 44 Energy is the requirement.

Skill Charges

The next area of Energy consternation is Skill Charges. I have two items I wish to highlight for this one. The first one being Naj’s Puzzler or the Staff from Naj Set:

+150% Enhanced Damage
+50% Damage To Undead
Adds 6-45 Lightning Damage
+30% Faster Cast Rate
+1 To All Skills
+70 To Mana
+35 To Energy
Level 11 Teleport (69 Charges)

You’ll notice the Staff comes loaded with Teleport charges. Considering how invaluable it is having Teleport with respect to character mobility, this Staff is valuable to have on switch for Non-Sorceress classes. As you already know, Teleport is a Tier 4 spell and is Level 11. So 11 * 2.5 = 27.5 which is cut to 27. Seeing as the Staff comes with +35 to Energy, I don’t think Energy will be that big of a deal here.

The other item I wanted to highlight is something that will definitely cause uneasiness and may cause a seismic Earthquake in Diablo 2 Meta: Hellfire Torch Large Charm Yes… the Hellfire Torch that people farm Uber Tristram over and over for is a must have item for any end-game build save for Smiters who need it vacant to grab the Torch. Why is the Hellfire Torch an Energy Requirement candidate? Well look at its attributes:

5% Chance To Cast level 10 Firestorm On Striking
+3 to Random Character Class Skills (varies)
+10-20 To All Attributes (varies)
All Resistances +10-20 (varies)
+8 To Light Radius
Level 30 Hydra (10 charges)

The first attribute I bolded is the special Firestorm proc. This Firestorm is not a class skill but rather the attack Diablo does and therefore I cannot reasonably give it an Energy requirement. Yet Diablo’s Firestorm isn’t the catalyst that will make Hell freeze over but that each Hellfire Torch comes with Level 30 Hydra charges. Hydra is a Tier 6 skill and at level 30 means that it’d require 30 * 4 = 120 Energy.

Now ask yourselves calmly and collectively the following: “Would you be ok to allocate Stat points into Energy if it meant you can use a Hellfire Torch?” I for one say HELL FREAKING YES since you gain +3 to Class Skills, +10-20 Attributes and +10-20 All Resistances. Who in their right mind wouldn’t?

Energy Stat Requirements on Builds

Seriously look at each class and potential builds and what their Energy Stat requirements would be:

Amazon:
Physical Bowzon: ~90 unless they invest heavily into Valkyrie
Frostmaiden: ~120
Firemaiden: ~90 unless they invest heavily into Valkyrie
Javazon: ~120

Necromancer:
Poison: ~120+
Bone: 140+
Summoner: ~80 unless they invest heavily into Revive/Fire Golem

Druid:
Wind: 140+
Fire Elemental: 120+
Zookeeper: 140+
Fury Werewolf: 120+
Werebear: ~90 but who plays Werebear now…

Assassin:
Trapper: 140+
Phoenix Strike: ~120
Bladesin: ~120
Anything with Venom: ~120

Paladin:
Smiter: ~100
Zealer: ~120
Fohdin: ~120+
Hammerdin: ~100
Avenger: 100

Barbarian:
WW: ~120
Zerker: ~120
Frenzy: ~90
Concentrate/Leap Attack: ~75
Singer: 160+

Sorceress:
Fire: 140+
Cold: 140+
Lightning: 140+

So given that a vast majority of builds necessitate having Energy Stats at or above what a Hellfire Torch would require means that it’s not unfeasible to require a Unique Charm come with a special opportunity cost.

Rainbow Facets

Finally, there are Rainbow Facets. Rainbow facets yield +5% Damage/-5% Enemy Resistance to a respective element. Each Rainbow facet comes with CtC procs and hence when socketed add an Energy Requirement. This requirement applies if the item lacks an Energy requirement to begin with. If it has one, then which Energy Requirement is higher would apply. Energy Requirement for each respective Jewel is as follows:

Fire:
100% Chance To Cast Level 29 Blaze When You Level-Up = 58
100% Chance To Cast Level 31 Meteor When You Die = 93

Cold:
100% Chance To Cast Level 43 Frost Nova When You Level-Up = 64
100% Chance To Cast Level 37 Blizzard When You Die = 111

Lightning:
100% Chance To Cast Level 41 Nova When You Level-Up = 82
100% Chance To Cast Level 47 Chain Lightning When You Die = 117

Poison:
100% Chance To Cast Level 23 Venom When You Level-Up = 69
100% Chance To Cast Level 51 Poison Nova When You Die = 204

Most of those Facet effects are generally below the Energy Stat requirements of most builds. The lone outlier is the Poison Die Facet since it has a massive 204 Energy requirement.

I must also give some credit to JMan for inspiring me to do this: JMan’s list but I think I went well beyond what he had in mind I think.

2 Likes
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Hmm, interesting idea but the issue is that you now forcing people to invest point in energy to use skills. You made from useless attribute hated attribute because not only you are forced to put point there, but also because of it people will have less life, str, dex…

Energy should have some positive effect and you would most likely have to rebelance other things because of that.

It would be much better if one point energy = +1% mana regen for example. Or idk +0,5% elememtal dmg.

Your idea would also broke all older characters btw. They would be unusable without rework and stats replecement.

4 Likes
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Energy is relevant, it’s just generally not as relevant as other options. It’s certainly relevant for leveling purposes, and of course for any ES sorcs and Warcry barbs. Just because every class and every build doesn’t invest into energy doesn’t mean it’s not relevant.

6 Likes
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i prefer a nerf to magical specs and making energy give %spell dmg to compensate the nerf

gating what is not gated is just cheap imo

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All you have to do is remove mana potions from vendors again and cut the most egregious items that give tons of energy/mana. Namely spirit and insight.

That’s all you have to do to get people to pump energy.

2 Likes
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My idea is indeed rather ambitious, if not radical and would, in effect, cause a lot of old characters to become “invalid” upon implementation but as I said in my OP, would you invest points into Energy as things presently are right now? I can only speak for myself and my answer is a fat no because the benefits for doing so are completely meaningless given that it’s just +Mana.

The existing Mana regeneration formula is fixed since it’s time based(120 seconds = full orb). This time/duration is reduced from two external factors: Sorceress Warmth skill and Meditation aura(hence why Insight is so popular given that level 17 = 700% or 120/8 = 15 seconds for full orb compared to 2 minutes). The only other option to replenish mana in a pinch is Redemption aura or Mana/Rejuv potions and given the options, many players opt for pots, Redemption or Meditation aura than pumping stat points into Energy. I do agree that Energy should apply in some fashion towards Mana regeneration(100 points = double the rate(1 minute), 200 points = triple(40 seconds) and not factoring in Warmth/Meditation sources) but even so and given the existing options, people still wouldn’t put points into Energy if push came to shove.

I mean look at each Character attribute as they presently are right now:

Strength: Equip Weapons and Armor. Enhances Melee Physical Damage.
Dexterity: Equip Weapons, Attack/Defense Rating and Block Chance. Enhances Range Physical Damage
Vitality: Life
Energy: Mana

Vitality needs no explanation because +Vitality = more life. As for Strength/Dexterity, people put points into Strength/Dexterity because they have to and the stronger Weapons/Armor require more Strength/Dexterity to equip. My proposal for Energy follows the same logic when it comes to character abilities/spells. As skills become more powerful(aka higher in tier/level), the more Energy your character will need to utilize them. Call it gating if you wish but it at least gives Energy a purpose compared to how it is now. Energy could outright be removed from the game and it’d have little impact on how players allocate Stat points for builds/characters. Might make leveling a tad harder but lets be frank here in saying that Energy presently has little to no reason to exist.

As for applying towards Spell damage, unless it came with an overall across the board nerf to spell damage and was additive like Strength/Dexterity are to Physical Damage, then yes I could possibly see Energy having a role here as well.

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On the other hand 99% of builds looks like this:
Points in str to equip monarch spirit (20 for endgame?)
Points in dex to equip whatever weapon you are using so 10-15 max?
Nothing to mana
Everything to life
:stuck_out_tongue:

2 Likes
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This isn’t addressing the problem. The problem is that mana is too accessible

1 Like
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It’s not just the fact that sources of Mana are plentiful, its that +Mana on gear is more impactful than the Energy stat itself. A perfectly rolled Spirit has 112 to Mana. For the three caster classes in Sorceress, Druid and Necromancer, that’s effectively +56 to Energy since they get +2 Mana per point. The impact for the other classes is even larger, going as high as +112 for Barbarians. Considering Spirit’s cost, that’s insanely OP/broken and demands a major nerf in that regard(which is a different debate/topic altogether) but also highlights how worthless the Energy stat happens to be when 99.9% of all builds follow the same old pattern:

Strength: Enough to Equip
Dexterity: Enough to Equip/Max Block(optional)
Vitality: Rest of points
Energy: NONE

That’s why I want to add Energy Stat requirements on skills because if my proposal were adopted, then every build would look something like this:

Strength: Enough to Equip
Dexterity: Enough to Equip/Max Block(optional)
Vitality: Remaining points
Energy: Enough for 120(Torch) + whatever is needed to utilize skills. Energy tops out at 130-140 unless needs are greater.

Most builds in the game, depending on a Skill’s overall level, require anywhere from 90 to at most 204 Energy(Level 51 War Cry for Singer Barb). What’s the harm in investing 80 to 100 stat points into Energy? That you have 200 less life in the end? Weak argument honestly.

By making the Energy stat relevant, the Lum rune and +Energy on gear would actually matter quite a bit and be preferrable to +Mana since that has no bearing on meeting Skill requirements. +5 Attributes on Maras has a far bigger impact. Same with +30 on BotD and rolling +6 Energy Skill GC’s might actually be worth buying. Speaking of Charms, Energy needs to be added to Charms. Strength/Dexterity don’t deserve Stat exclusivity.

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I think the energy requirement item is a good idea. Maybe add a rune word item that requires like 70 energy, but gives you a big boost to something worth it.

1 Like
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Grief requires 60 in Energy Stat to use. BotD takes 64 while Hands of Justice takes a whopping 144 thanks to its Meteor proc. If you simply utilize my formula in OP, you can figure out which runewords and items will require Energy to utilize :slight_smile:

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using existing items seems a bit far fetched that needs too many modications. I was thinking new runewords or unique items based off of Energy, and maybe even vitality points. But the concern to this system is counter intuitive that restricts builds.

I think blizz made str and dex the only mandatory attribute to require because that way putting into energy would mean you be less motivated to use both str and energy required items. Therefore putting players in a box to fulfill the all the stat points necessary.

I think this system would work on end game builds as they have alot of freedom to move their attributes around. Anyways it seems like a good idea but also counter intuitive if the differences in attribute points are far apart.

13

Before all these crazy items with functionally infinite Mana and mana potions in the shop, people put points into energy. Remove the free mama from the game and people will dump into energy again. There’s no need to force people to dump into energy as equipment requirements. The intended and existing way it was balanced is enough – mana regen rate. Making that relevant again is a few simple changes to a handful of existing items

14

And now every build rocks Phoenix shield. :stuck_out_tongue:

Meanwhile Paladins moves even further up the OP scale… and still don’t pump energy.

So these changes ultimately buff Light Sorcs… and Paladin. Yep EXACTLY what D2 needs.
(that was sarcasm)

15

There is no need to overhaul the entire game to make a stat relevant. They could bake mana regen % into energy and be done with it.

16

Energy points could be used to scale certain skills or elements. Eg Vengeance 5% enhanced elemental damage, Fire Ball 2% enhanced damage. Only allow it to work with resistable elements, no hdin or bone mancer.

17

But that last thing we need is even easier content man…

1 stat is always better than another. That’s how every RPG ever has worked tbh.

1 Like
18

Who says monsters can’t be revamped.

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As far as I can see…Blizzard. They only makes things easier. Just look at their games for 15 years now.

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Mana regen is already baked into energy

1 Like