The question alone isnât sufficient. More information such as how resists are calculated is also needed to decide. D2 and D3 donât handle resists in the same way, for example, with the latter being more like an âelemental attackâ that has its respective âelemental armorâ checked instead of a multiplicative reduction and potential immunity or absorb.
The problem with either system, and further exacerbated by something like D2âs baked in difficulty resist penalty, is that you make these stats mandatory. If single resist is too good, it just becomes âWell, Iâll put Cold Resist on my helmet, Fire on my boots⌠etcâ where if AR is the higher value, those same slots just get AR instead. D3âs problem just manifested differently in that the âelemental attackâ just kept climbing per difficulty while player growth methods didnât outside of the eventual implementation of ancients. And even then, the need for outside damage resistances kept growing with the GR numbers.
But letâs say both are gone, what then? Demand just shifts toward increasing HP and methods to replenish it. D2 had the ping ping HP pool problem. Iâd argue LoH in D3 wasnât potent enough and similarly didnât scale. âDonât get hit!â goes on to perpetuate glass play, but is easier said than done depending on class and build.
In the end, Iâm inclined to call the worst culprit in all this to be the RNG-based nature of gear, which feeds into the idea of the affix economy, and eventually an expectation of gear level in content. D3 had the 6 affix system at one point, then eventually 4/2. Iâd argue the devs were on the right track in acknowledging some stats were âmore importantâ than others, but Iâd actually say the distinctions didnât go far enough while the general affix pool was also lacking.
Iâm going to dive back in time a bit to when people swapped to MF gear for landing kills. We know why people did it. It didnât change the tedium or temptation to run scripts for that purpose. Blizz opted to generally remove MF, but an initial proposal of mine back then was to give players a secondary set of gear to equip that would focus on what I broadly called âAdventurer Statsâ like MF, GF, PUR, Move Speed, Regen, +EXP, and a lot of the things that wound up in the secondary affix pool. The idea was your primary gear would still focus on all the damage and such your build craved, while the secondary set removed that swap requirement while creating an incentive to find the perfect adventurer sets where only those respective affixes counted. They all mightâve looked the same per piece on the optimization level, but getting them at high values was still going to be a slog.
I bring this up because we should probably consider looking at combat affixes similarly, only breaking them down in their own unique categories. We can also go back to specific types of equipment having specific quirks that can either enhance a build or shore up a weakness.
But what do I mean? Well, letâs create a hypothetical chest armor piece:
Defense: 200
Hit Points: +100
Evasion: 5%
Fire Resist: 20%
Cold Resist: 20%
Lightning Resist: 20%
Poison Resist: 20%
Every chest armor piece would have those 7 core stats baked in. RNG and Type, however, would augment those values and introduce additional possibilities befitting the category. Affix RNG would also allow offensive category mods to appear within its own respective category. Leather armors could see more evasion. Cloth could get more resists. Bulkier stuff could see higher DEF/HP. The concepts really shouldnât be alien, but the affix ranges shouldnât be wide and wild like D3, either. When it comes to unique items, you could even have something that gives 100% Fire Resist while giving 0% everything else. Thereâs still some give and take to be had without resorting to overt penalties.
So with 6-affix or 4/2 in mind, my thought is more like 10/10/10. Yeah, you read that properly. All gear would effectively roll into Offensive, Defensive, and Adventurer categories. I also acknowledge the insane level of RNG that goes into this and how getting perfect gear on drops alone would pretty much be impossible. Which is also why Iâd highly champion a robust enhancement and augmentation system. Make the respective pools meaningfully deep and you still leave choice and agency up to the player. More RNG, yet more control. The debate about resists is minimized because it should be present on all armor to begin with. If someone is wearing all Hell difficulty gear, then you should also know they have a minimum of 60% in everything before factoring in RNG bonuses or voluntary tweaks brought on by uniques. This requires a shift in thinking that defensive stats are more of a luxury compared to offense, and an overall reconsideration of just what an ARPG affix economy should be (because things initially competing no longer have to, leaving more room for The Fun Stuffâ˘).
Of course, Iâm aware of the possibility of information overload for the less versed gamer, as well. Thatâs partially why I brought up a base line. Offense may remain the priority, but defense isnât forgotten, and adventurer stuff is just nice to have. Stay out of the bad, donât get swarmed, and use your abilities wisely and any decently supportive gear for a build should be enough. This also preemptively tackles the issue of underleveled gear outstaying its welcome, while also acknowledging that legendaries/uniques in D4 should level with the player (either at drop or⌠literally dynamically adjust). The players that want to go above and beyond, to grind and min/max, can still do that and see results.
So for me, itâs not a case of either/or. Itâs make gear better and more engaging to work with rather than fighting over mundane appeals to tradition.