I gave up on this game after Season 3 and then picked it up again in Season 33, which was interesting. Season 34 was significantly more fun (for me at least) and I managed to clear GR 135 solo. This season, though…it seems like it’s much more of a challenge to utilize the help. My GR 135 character wouldn’t have a kill streak of 5 mobs at GR 130+ absent multiple pylon help.
On a related topic, are the helm gems generally considered the most powerful theme?
Thanks!
You are underestimating the upcoming season power. Just because it’s not upfront 300% damage doesn’t mean it’s weak. This one will require skill and it’s the most powerfull if done right
Except XP farming will suck balls as you don’t have consistent farming potential, so it will be more difficult to get kills in a 150 to trigger the effects in the first place.
This!
Not this!
The theme is probably one of the worse. If you think D3 is dead now, wait 3 weeks after the season starts. Only bots will be around and a few hardy souls fishing for the right rift. There are just not enough rifts with any sort of density to keep the streak alive for long. So you either spend your time in a cow level and maybe in the temple of first born, or fishing for Gr’s. This is a season where you finish the journey and then quit.
PS Edit: Just from what I remember, the cow level, as dense at it is, barely had enough trash to keep the streask alive long enough to summon Diablo. Maybe something will change this season? 
If you are reffering to the soul shards (gem in weapon and helmet) then yeah, it’s probably the most robust theme we had, especially if you combine it with the Altar. It’s also nice cause it buffs pretty much everything, whereas S34 or cube seasons buff some builds way more than others.
I loved Ethereals, Soul Shards and Angelic Crucibles. I think soul shards was the most balanced but I’d take either theme on a rotation. This seasons theme is the most underwhelming for me. Ranks right up there with double Goblins and extra cube slot or anything with the cube if you’re not playing a necro.
This is the most creative season blizzard has made. You probably dont understand it
I suspect for most it will be uninspiring. The extra power will take some planning and effort that most simply will not want to do. It does not interest me personally.
Creative doesn’t mean good.
If I don’t remember wrong, streak doesn’t need you to actually kill stuff. It’s a little build dependent how easy it’s to maintain streak by hitting mobs constantly enough, but last time it was a major problem only when changing floors. Let’s hope the altar’s streak helper node helps with the seasonal stacks also, but surely the new open forest map with long empty start might cause some headache.
I agree the Diablo summoning wasn’t too easy. Many cow levels didn’t have the required 1000 mobs and I remember waiting some illusion mobs to multiply to get more kills.
Ive played a lot of D3 and this is my favorite season out of all of them 
dont sleep on it til ya tried it, esp with the altar. its a different game. it changes things that much
One reason some people may not like this theme is it feels like the game is beating itself. Your damage is nothing compared to that of the kill streak summons. It feels like the environment is killing more mobs than you are.
In that way, it is pretty bad theme. It’s not a direct power boost like from an item you pick up but an indirect power boost that requires you jump through hoops to get any benefit from the theme.
Don’t you get 1 stack of the damage+movement speed buff per kill? The “benefit” is near-constant, albeit minor.
Personally, I’m not too hyped for it. But, having skipped it last time, at least I’ll have a reason to complete journey for the pet+portrait.
I’m not sure about that. Or at least if there is a buff to speed and damage, I think it’s limited to 50 stacks. A 50% increase is about 3 GR’s worth of damage. It would be insane if you get up to 5X damage increase by the end of a GR. If that was the case, it would be a pretty good theme.
But a 50% increase compared to the damage the effects do; it would indeed be small potatoes. Which was my point. It feels like the effects are doing more than to finish a GRift than you. Which to some people doesn’t feel good.
“ultimately capping out at 50% movement speed and 100% damage at 1000 stacks.”
So it’s dynamic. Resetting if you lose the stacks (which can be a good strategy) and constant if you keep the kill streak constant.
Correct. And realistically the most people will ever see is a max of 500 stacks which = 25 mvmt speed and 50% damage, so it is chump change and barely noticeable.
The 150, 400 and 500 effects are what you need to rely on for pushing, so it will not be a relaxing season by any stretch of the imagination, and quite underwhelming for most.
Maybe you need a break.
I had been away for some time, trying out D4 and some other stuff.
Coming back only a few weeks ago, I am really looking forward to this season. So, it seems like it could be a lot of fun.
Go play something else for a while a come back. It has made me really appreciate this game more.
This was a cool and fun season theme will be nice to enjoy it again
But I didn’t abuse or it anything like people trying to do GR push or optimize or whatever
If you just enjoy playing the game like I do then this is a great season theme to enjoy
Not everyone’s idea of having fun is running T16s all season however. Many (most?) people enjoy optimising and pushing GRs, which requires an indepth knowledge of how the kill streaks work to be able to pull it off properly.
Right. And some people just wanna go fast and enjoy the flashy lights and colors and feel awesome and not have to think about it much (that’s me and also a large portion of the players who enjoy D3). I don’t run t16 all season either. There should be a place for high GR (speeds I think they’re called) but not too high