I spent a few hours testing Hustle, Metamorphosis and Mosaic today (on my main account Baheven#1301). Below are my thoughts.
~OVERALL~
It is super exciting to see new effects added to the game! I love that D2R is still getting love and attention! Metamorphosis and Mosaic get me really excited for the future of D2R.
~HUSTLE (WEAPON)~
Problem 1: The Hustle weapon contributes to prebuff power creep. The Hustle weapon fills a niche as the fast attack speed mid-game rune word but it still struggles to compete against other mid-game rune words of similar or lower cost (such as Unbending Will, Obedience, Harmony, Honor and Insight). The Burst of Speed buff is so powerful that it is always better to trigger the buff then switch to a different weapon with higher enhanced damage (which doesn’t feel like the intent of the rune word).
Solution 1: Change the Burst of Speed buff to be active “when equipped” like rune word auras instead of “chance to cast”. This will encourage players to actually use the Hustle weapon as their primary weapon instead of as a prebuff tool. Barbarians and Assassins could get double the Burst of Speed buff if they commit to dual wielding two Hustle weapons. The level of the Burst of Speed buff would need to be reduced.
EDIT 1/25: If the intent of the Hustle weapon is to function as a mid-game primary weapon and later as an endgame prebuff tool, then triggering Burst of Speed should be easier. Burst of Speed should be converted to an oskill (like Teleport on Enigma, Critical Strike on Insight, etc), item charges (like Cloak of Shadows on Nadir) or significantly improve the chance to cast. If the goal for Hustle is to prebuff, it should be easier to activate. I personally don't like every class having access to Cloak of Shadows but I respect why people are excited for this powerful buff.
~METAMORPHOSIS~
Problem 1: Metamorphosis also contributes to prebuff power creep. A Druid or Beast/Wolfhowl user can trigger the buffs, then switch to another helmet (which doesn’t feel like the intent of the rune word).
Solution 1: The Metamorphosis buffs should be restricted in some way. Examples: Restrict to only having the helmet equipped, restrict to only while in wereform, restrict to only while Feral Rage or Maul are active. EDIT 1/25: Another possible restriction could be limiting Metamorphosis to Druid pelt helms, not all helms.
Problem 2: Current Druid Shapeshifter gameplay discourages actively switching between Werewolf and Werebear forms. Druids cannot switch between wereforms directly, instead Druids must switch back to human form before switching to the other wereform (which is very clunky). Investing in both forms is a massive drain on skill points. Feral Rage and Maul do not persist across wereforms.
Solution 2: Enable Druids to switch between wereforms directly without needing to switch to human form inbetween. Enable Feral Rage and Maul to persist across forms to reward gameplay and skill point investment across both forms.
Problem 3: Metamorphosis (even with both buffs active) is underpowered relative to its rune cost. The werewolf buff is particularly underpowered. Cham is significantly more expensive than competing helmets (such as Guillaume’s, Jalal’s, Cerebus’).
Solution 3: Boost the offensive bonuses of the werewolf buff. 20% deadly strike would position Metamorphosis as a late endgame upgrade to Guillaume’s Face.
~MOSAIC~
Problem 1: Restricting a new gameplay mechanic to an item feels “anti” Diablo 2. Build crafting in Diablo 2 is about defining the build you want to play and then acquiring gear that fits that build. Build crafting in Diablo 2 should not be dependent on a specific item to make a build usable.
Solution 1: Mosaic’s new mechanic should be moved from the rune word to the Assassin’s skill tree itself (maybe Claw Mastery). If the D2R dev team plans to use “chance for finishing moves to not consume charges” as the main change to improve Martial Arts Assassins, then 100% chance should be achievable. If the new mechanic is moved to the Assassin’s skill tree, then Mosaic can be changed to providing more bonuses to Martial Arts skills or being the first indestructible Claw rune word (like the Claw version of the Oath rune word).
Problem 2: Mosaic is underpowered relative to its rune cost, especially when compared to similar cost rune words (Crescent Moon, Oath, Kingslayer).
Solution 2: Boost the offensive bonuses of Mosaic (higher enhanced damage, deadly strike, open wounds, minus target defense, ignore target defense, indestructible).
~OTHER FEEDBACK~
I am glad Druids and Assassins are receiving rune word attention with Patch 2.6 but more fundamental gameplay/mechanic buffs are needed.
Druid:
- Mentioned above under section “METAMORPHOSIS: Solution 2”.
EDIT 1/25: Druid Shapeshifters need to be able to teleport in wereform
Assassin:
- Stacking and maintaining Martial Arts charges is clunky, requiring two actions to trigger an offensive ability will always leave Martial Arts behind compared to all other offensive builds
- Cloak of Shadows needs to have its duration and/or casting delay capped so Cloak of Shadows can be a more reliable source of minus enemy defense (this will help Martial Arts builds land hits and stack charges!)
- Blade Sentinel needs its casting delay removed
- Assassin needs its next hit delays rebalanced across all abilities (this also hurts Martials Arts today!)
- Assassins need a true high end Claw rune word equivalent (in power and cost) to Grief or Breath of the Dying
- Traps need to benefit from the Assassin’s minus enemy resistance bonuses
EDIT 1/25: Dragon Tail radius needs to increase with skill levelEDIT 1/25: Dragon Tail fire damage conversion needs to function like Berserk magic damage conversion. Berserk only has to worry about enemy Magic resistance. Currently, Dragon Tail users need to counter enemy fire and physical resistances. This is clunky and restricts your gear options.
Small Notes:
- The attack speed bonus on Metamorphosis should be renamed to “Bonus Attack Speed” or “Skill Attack Speed” to differentiate this bonus from other gear attack speed bonuses (EIAS vs IAS)