Diablo 4 - 6 Skill Disaster

General Discussion
#1

We need more than 6 skills. The 6 skills is huge, to me this means the game will automatically be too simple. I want the option of using 4 skills or the option of using 11 skills, I want the choice to make whatever I want like I can in D2 or PoE.

Limiting the game to 6 skills automatically qualifies it as too much like Diablo 3 imo. Why would I spend money on more of Diablo 3 when I could build a character I want to play in PoE. I don’t think asking for the option to go 1-13 skills (whatever you want) is too big of a deal (like PoE and Diablo 2), accessible but you can add more complexity.

I don’t necessarily care for Diablo to be PoE. PoE does some things very well, but so does Diablo 2 and even Diablo 3. However, limiting the game to 6 skills means nothing interesting like auras, curses, resists, or things that make you have to change up gameplay. I hate it so much, it’s very much on the verge of dealbreaker or putting me into wait and see on youtube, etc.

Let’s make the game great so everybody wants to stick around and spend more money on whatever monetization is implemented. There are prob over 100k PoE players at any time, do you all want to get some of these players back? I know a lot of people appreciate some things about D3 (visceral polished experience, cinematics, goodwill and likableness from D1/2) but very much dislike other things (6 skill lock, progression, itemization, health pots, resource system, skill system in relation to combat - I need to curse some things or have auras).

I’m just not that interested in an arpg with only 6 skills that isn’t a $10- 20 game on Steam. For a title I pay more for and want to play for a longer period of time I need things like curses and auras (and maybe charges or skills from items). You all can make it as pretty as you want but it still won’t be a game I want to play.

22 Likes
#2

Given that the new update noted that you wont be able to max everything out anymore and they’re aiming for about 30-40% of the tree, I see no real reason to limit players to a max number of active skills at all.

The limit was only needed when they were planning on letting us max every skill out, as the 6 skill effectively was the build limiter.

Now skill points will naturally do that.

8 Likes
#3

I really agree with this. I’d also like to see some skills on items.

6 Likes
#4

And the plans to release on console shouldn’t nerf the total amount of skills either. The xbox one controller has:

2 triggers
2 bumpers
a D-pad (4 additional button options)
and 4 buttons. (A,B,X,Y)

You can further increase the amount of available skills by simply allowing us to hold in a trigger and then push a button. That increases the available skills to 18. (A,B,X,Y x3, the two bumpers, and the 4 way D-pad) Even with reserving the D-pad for utility functions (Town portal, mount your pony, health pot, mana pot) that’s still 14 skills. The “select” button can still be inventory and you can make it so that you can have a multiple tab interface with the select button to access maps and skill trees, etc. No reason to limit to 6 skills. Controller can handle so much more if you put some effort and thought into it.

Sincerely,
A console player

9 Likes
#6

I’ll be happy with at least 3 more skills.

2 Likes
#7

They will never be back simply because, according to GGG polls, most of them never even played any Diablo game (surprisingly). PoE is a very different game for people with a different mindset. This is a heaven for theorycrafters, complexity for the sake of complexity is their everything. Diablo had never been and will never be such (or similar) game, and this is good. PoE has occupied its own empty niche and will always be there with its own specific community.

3 Likes
#8

I wouldn’t mind if they opened up the keybinds and allowed us to map as many skills as we want, but if not and they stay with the tried and true D3 formula - I’m totally fine with that, too.

It’s not like you need more than a couple key skills to bash demons back to hell anyway.

2 Likes
#9

Even with, thankfully, a limited amount of skill points, I think a skill slot cap is for the better. It is the best solution against one-point wonders. It forces hard decisions.

That said, the skill slot cap should rather be 7-8 or so (not counting potential slots for skills from items).

2 Likes
#10

Diablo 2 is similarly complex to PoE, PoE is pretty much updated D2.

2 Likes
#11

D2 is much less complex than PoE. No one quits D2 because “it is too hard to undrestand”. Everyone whom I tried to drag into PoE (like 3-4 players) didn’t remain there for long exactly because of this reason. PoE formula is “Difficult to learn, easy to master”.

6 Likes
#12

This is funny.

Nah, PoE isn’t as complex as you think. The one thing about PoE that is a bit off putting may be the way the game has you select skill gems as quest rewards causing you to have to read over each one and think about it for a bit. A skill tree would be easier.

Besides that PoE is Diablo 2.

Imagine if PoE didn’t have skill gems but kept support gems. Would these be the same as D4 runes?

2 Likes
#13

PoE really isn’t hard to learn. The biggest hurdle is that the skill tree looks far more intimidating than it actually is,.

Once you realize that for any given build you can safely ignore 80% of it because it’s meant for other builds, the game is fairly easy to pick up and play.

It’d be like if Diablo 2 showed you every class skill tree at once. That doesn’t really make it any more complex, it’s just displayed in a way not friendly to new players.

Which granted is a problem PoE has.

5 Likes
#14

It is very complex - the fact that you site gems as being the off-putting thing shows that you have no idea what you are talking about. You make no mention of the convoluted, complex and deep orb/crafting systems and prefix/suffix/implicits that would confuse even Einstein himself.

Not even close. Not even in the same ballpark.

3 Likes
#15

I’m aware of these things and don’t think they are any more complex than D2’s systems. Also, crafting can pretty much be ignored until late game if you want.

D2 has ebugs, rolling for sockets, superiors, ethereals, crafting with various gems, jewels, runes and magic items. Pretty similar.

The implicits on PoE are a great way to differentiate weapons, love that system. A great idea.

#16

Where are D2’s orbs? Where is this crafting mechanic that compares to PoE? Have you played PoE?

3 Likes
#17

Hel + scroll of town portal, reroll that runeword. Bunch of random crap and cube - low chance at good item but not that cost prohibitive to try.

Where are PoE’s charms?

1 Like
#18

The burden is on you to prove your claim that D2 is Poe.

See - you are proving my point. Do you need more help getting back on the rails? You’ve completely fallen off the track.

/thread

#19

Oh ok. Well then. 20chars

#20

IDK if I’m really a bad player, was, or people just say it in order to say it… I seriously, SERIOUSLY doubt that anyone of us had the intent and speed to use more than 4 skills per battle (ESPECIALLY cause the theme of the game often was to mass empower 1 skill)

Think this particular request gets “triggered” by people more out of spite than actual gameplay reason, and to be frank shouting like 10 shouts isn’t a “skill” it’s a buff that you “set and forget” and then continue using 2 or 3 ACTUAL skills in battle (at most). Same with the Sorc for ex. Ice(insert-kind)-Armor + Mana-shield + Enchant + LightningStorm (if talented) and then continue doing “other things”. Same with the Pally, Necro gets a bit trickier but he usually is OP with one thing to make up for the lack of “individual power”… I guess the most nimble/skill-shuffling classes are Assassin and Amazon I think (but people can and do tend to reduce their complexity by maxing out as much as possible on passives)

The only time battles become in need of more than 3 skills per battle is like in Hell difficulty, and frankly don’t think that was due to player choice either, but rather mob immunities

What however should be considered is make mobs matter more (compared to D3) but toned down a bit (compared to D2 immunities), the 6 skills on a bar isn’t much of a turn-off tbh, but they could just well make these changeable during battle (as opposed to have to be out of combat which was the requirement in D3)

4 Likes
#21

I didn’t often deal with that many skills in Diablo 2, but I’ve since played a lot of WoW where at times I had 30+ keybinds that I used.

So using 10 abilities doesn’t seem all that crazy to me. It would mostly be annoying to do it with Diablo 2’s clunky system of needing to select the ability before being able to use it.

I also like having buffs as active abilities, which in the current system would count as an active skill taking up one of the 6 slots regardless of if you used in a lot in combat or not.

3 Likes