but looks like they are implementing a modified version of the soul shards with the Whisper of Atonement gem…
along with a side of nerf to fire Inna 
No news is good news for DHs this season. It’s not like you’d get a rework or buffs two seasons in a row, and I think marauders would’ve been next in the queue for nerfs after fire monk and sader. So I think in terms of balance, this patch is as much as you could’ve realistically hoped for.
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True - was hoping for a revert of the GoD nerf, but that was probably not gonna happen (and may never).
I do like the idea of the augmenting gem as a pseudo replacement for shard augments.
Interested in the Dream Rifts too…
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I liked old GoD better as well (tbh, mostly because it paired better with a zwiz 
). The change was their way of solving the Missile Dampening interaction, and they are not going to go back and find a different solution. In particular the change was the patch with the follower changes iirc, that gave everyone nems, so with old MD interaction, you could clear ridiculously high GRs by clearing the rift with a MD or two, and then save a pylon and fish for another MD from the pylon for the RG. So I see that they wanted to get rid of that, but I wish they found a solution for MD that kept the density scaling, like have a timer on the HAs or something. Others didn’t like the scaling with density though, so they are happy. Either way, it’s not coming back as you say.
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I mean, there’s really no reason for them not to just increase the GoD 6-piece bonus. After all, they already did that, somewhat, when they nerfed the pierce cap. You could double the 6-piece again, to 30,000%, which would add about 4.4 GRs of net power, and GoD would still be worse than Marauder for pushing, and worse than Water Inna for speeds.
Yeah, there were surprisingly few nerfs or balance changes aside from the GR adjustments. Of course, everyone expected the Inna Monk nerf but I think they overnerfed a little. I think a 5x → 2x multiplier to the fire allies should be enough. As it stands now, only water allies are viable for every Inna build.
I’m glad that Barbarians get their time to shine and I hope that Raekor is going to be strong (for 2 seasons before they nerf it)! I only hope they don’t make Shi Mizu the meta with the low HP mechanic. Barbs in D3 don’t have Mayhem (Lost Ark mechanic that keeps max HP at 25% with 65% damage reduction)!
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The issue isn’t that GoD isn’t doing as high of GRs as Marauder. It’s that the pierce-capped playstyle is no fun at all. Being poorly rewarded for gathering density and having to worry about random affixes like Illusionist makes pushing the build to high GRs just dreadful.
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Agreed, but: many people, me among them, tried to get them to keep a much higher pierce cap when they first lowered it. I think I was arguing for a pierce cap of 60, which was about the number of pierces you generally might see in good density, without Missile Dampening. They just wouldn’t do it, and instead we got what we got.
Jacking up the 6 piece wouldn’t solve the “pushing isn’t fun” issue, but it would help make the build more competitive with Water Inna for speeds.
This 100%. For a build that is defined by its mobility and ability to pace and control maps, you ironically get “soft punished” for doing so. Imagined getting punished for gathering with WhirlRend.
Instead of buffing the 6pc, why not just up the pierce cap? Even if it’s just a few, this way, we are actually rewarded somewhat for trying to play the set to its strengths. Right now, you can’t get anymore pierces in density than you would on a single target.
Like I said, I agree. I mean, I was arguing for a pierce cap of 60! In addition to reducing the fun of the build, they really screwed it up aesthetically, since you no longer see those arrows zipping around nearly as much, piercing everything in sight, “Yondu-style”.
Hopefully someday they’ll see the error of their ways.
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Well, actually they did something for GoD. They banned the sewer maps, which where totally awful for this Set.
My zwiz will be ready. 
I’ve yet to see this newer team revert mechanical changes after it’s been made. We’re more likely to see a change of the change.
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Yeah, that’s why I was suggesting simply upping the damage bonus of the 6-piece. Not because it’s the ideal solution, but because it’s a change that would have some positive effects (improved speeds), and is also something they’ve done before (they increased it from 10k —> 15k).
It’s not a positive effect since GoD doesn’t need any more help, and players are tired of it. For speeds alone it’s been played to death in S24. Meanwhile sets like UE and Nats have never really had the chance to be part of those speed metas. Those are the sets that need their 6p damage bonus upped.
That’s just your opinion.
That’s BS. Last season. GOD HA, even with the nerf, still was the dominant DH build that people played. People just swapped to M6 MS sentry cos it does more damage. Nothing more and nothing less. At the moment, in its nerfed form, GOD HA is about on par with s6 impale. If GOD is underpowered, then by logic, so is s6 impale and if GOD gets buffed then so should s6 impale.
IN reality, m6 ms sentry is OP and should be nerfed to be in line with s6 impale and GOD HA.
Please learn to read carefully. I wasn’t commenting on the power of GoD relative to Marauder or other DH builds, rather its inferior playstyle after the pierce cap.
Sure last season GoD was the most powerful DH build. Doesn’t change the fact that it wasn’t a very fun build to play at all.
Wasn’t fun, or wasn’t fun cos you lost near 10 GRs in performance, which was a downer? Welcome to the real world and the non OP AF builds.
Not fun compared to the UE multishot that I’ve been playing since S8. I never actually played the pre-nerf GoD, but I heard that was fun too.
BTW you need to get the idea out of your head that I only enjoy playing the most OP builds. I’ve played every DH build listed on Maxroll (except N6G4 which is basically GoD6) many of which are tragically underpowered for how fun they are.
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