New runewords are good but

How about fixing 1 of them that we have first.
Spirit shield is a lvl 25 runeword that is for all classes but only paladins can use it at lvl 25 the other 6 classes have to wait until lvl 53 to use it. Your trying to balance game with new runewords for some classes that need help. Making this actually usable by the other 6 classes at lvl 25 would be a start for middle lvl characters until they find their end game shield.
Simple fix just make some shields that are lvl 25 or less be able to have 4 sockets.
Very simple fix or just get rid of the runeword all together.

The first solution is clearly a power creep. Currently you need to choose between dumping many points in strength in order to equip a monarch or using another, weaker item, such as Lidless.
Spirit is already ridiculously overpowered - BiS caster shield made with normal runes? It should be nerfed either by reducing its stats or changing runes to higher ones.

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You nailed it. Even with the high str requirment it’s still op for it’s low price tag. If it was possible to use a normal or exceptional base, it would be like adding 100 additional vita/energy/dex to it.

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i got no problem if they remove the + 2 to skills. just make more 4os shields available for the other 6 classes .
But dont you think maybe all other classes could use it not just a sorc.
Every class would benefit from this except the paladin because he already does.
I didnt make the runeword for everyone to use at lvl 25 blizzard did, Dont you think if they wanted you to use it at lvl 53 they would of made it a lvl 53 runeword.
Show me 1 other rune word that you cant use at the same lvl as the highest rune and i will shut up. You cant.
I got absolutely no problem if they delete this runeword, nerf if, or change it to a lvl 53 runeword but just do something that makes it the same for all classes not let 1 class have it at lvl 25 then the other 6 cant have it until lvl 53.
With all the changes they have already made it sure seams like this would be the one that breaks the game so you people say. LOL

If this runeword is so over powered that its a game changer then maybe they need to change it or just delete it.

So sad you think only sorcs could use this and it be beneficial until they find their end game shield. But hey Odin said he uses this duel spirit on his smiter full time so i cant say i havent heard of any one doing this
But this is what the devs want they want feedback on runewords and bug.

So either make this one available for all 7 classes at lvl 25
or make it a lvl 53 rune word ( as its sooo powerful it deserves a GUL rune which is lvl 53) that way all can use this powerful runeword at 53 and then all is good and the game wont implode.
Or just delete the runeword spirit shield all together.
But for gods sake do something and then dont forget to show jimbo where the reset button is so we can get a clean start and find new things to gripe about…

First of all I’m pretty sure our PTR feedback should be focused on the new runewords actually.
Anyway if I wanted to “balance” Spirit between Paladin and other classes, I’d simply remove the possibility of socketing it into paladin shields. So he also Requires a Monarch. But no way allowing lighter bases.
And yes… Spirit shields are so damn broken that I’d nerf them to hell or vastly increase the rune costs. Nevertheless I guess this is no relevant topic for the current PTR iteration.

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Tbh I think you should treat this forum as a simple chat room, dev’s aren’t reading it anyway.
But I agree Spirit shield should actually just get wacked with a nerve hammer.

I’m pretty sure they will read most of it, since they requested to put feedback exactly here. I don’t have trust in Blizzard, but this team proved to be able making relativly good decisions. These may be not perfect and to be honest cannot be perfect, but I was impressed how good they took the spirit of the original Diablo 2 to D2R. As a “veteran” player I must admit, there are very few things I would have decided differently (bring back eth bug :frowning: ). As much as I’m for conservative changes, I would have gone a little bit further on almost every D2R runewords (including 2.4 ones). The majority of them have great ideas in the background, but require some tweeks to properly join the meta. Also I’d love if some “dead” runewords and of course unique items and crafting recipes would be revisited, but I think this will happen at some point.

i hope they do read this and give it some thought. Spirit shield is over powered but peoples logic that it is ok at lvl 53 compared to lvl 25 is flawed since it is a lvl 25 runeword.
Been giving this alot of thought and its to good of a runeword to delete so lets go back to the drawing board and rethink this.
This is what i have been thinking it should look like. Lets take the mods from the runes like they do for all rune words then add things in. so this is how i can see it being used by all at lvl 25 that wont be too overpowering.

+1 to +2 to a class skill : IE – druid, necro,sorc,assasin ect, make it vary by class like the torch does so you get 1 in 7 chance of getting what you want instead of to all skills.
10% to 20% fcr varies – ( 25-35% fcr is too much)
20% fhr ( 55% to much)
10-15 vit varies --( 22 is too much)
40-80 mana varies (89-112 is too much)
+250 defense vs missle is ok
+3 to +8 magic asorb is ok
+35 to cold, lightning,poison (go ahead and give 35 to fire since we took so much away)

Spirit shield would look like this
+1 or +2 skill to a class – varies
10% to 20% fcr – varies
20% fhr
10-15 vit – varies
40-80 mana – varies
+250 defense vs missile
+3 to +8 magic asorb
+35 All resist

As easy as these runes are to find and if more shield were capable of 4 sockets this could be very useable by all classes for mid leveling until we find final end game shield to use.

Make more 4 socket shields now this isnt so over powered we need them for other things as well.

If they did up the rune cost, they really would need to tighten the random roll ranges. 1 in 1584 chance for perfect rolls with a higher rune cost is just cruel. (And yes, the same goes for some of the absurd RNG ranges on existing runewords that require high runes.)

Do they? Is, say, Death with 300% ED that much worse than 385% ED? For min-maxers it matters, but most players don’t care that much.

By having random ranges, you almost always have room for further improvements, which stimulates both the player himself and the economy. If there were no random ranges (or they were so tight that perfect rolls were abundant), after creating such a BiS item that slot would be essentially “dead” until the end of the ladder. Or possibly forever, if you play NLD.

Having said that, I’d still narrow the range on Spirit at least for FCR (or even fix it and leave other stats random). Because of the annoying outdated breakpoints mechanics, the upgrade is binary, not gradual like ED - you either meet the breakpoint or not. Unlike other stats, perfect rolls are important here.

Ideally I’d like to have breakpoints removed, so each single FCR, FHR, IAS, FBR point matters, but I understand that it’d require to re-write the game engine, so it won’t happen.

Goals feeling unattainable drives disengagement. This has been studied and results published in a number of medical and psychology journals. To maintain engagement, you have to have a mix of goalpost difficulties and even the far goalposts should feel attainable with enough effort. This is why many will just say “good enough” the first time they get any somewhat hard-to-acquire item and not bother even attempting to go for a better rolled version, because it feels (and often is) so far out of reach. There are even some cases with rare and crafted items where just getting the right mix of affixes (not even going for perfect rolls of those affixes) would require multiple consecutive lifetimes for the gold-finding/gambling or farming gems, jewels, runes etc. to craft (as someone who has done the math on this before).

This would be a very nice idea. Definitely, as you say, beyond scope for D2/D2R, but it would make a lot more sense if building from the ground-up.

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