PTR 2.6.10 Has Ended!

The Condemn build uses Akkhan set and still is reasonably powerful. The set can’t be buffed excessively or the Condemn build becomes (once again) ridicoulsy overpowered compared to others.

Don’t look at the set damage buffs alone! The supporting legendaries also make the builds. In case of the Condemn, the sword and shield combo alone give x81 damage multiplier, with additional conditioned x2 multiplier on top. Because of that Akkhan must be balanced with those in mind. That’s why Akkhan can’t be buffed much further, if at all.

okey delete this set entire game you mean

Still, condemn isn’t the problem anymore, it was actually safe to buff akkhan up to 5000k without much issue, since condemn is still weaker than several builds, even its LoD version.

To put it in perspective, the top clears at roughly 10k were doing 131ish, adding a few levels when CC + Aug combo came, maybe at best this build is in the 134-136 range, that leaves quite a few levels of power to increase.

Buffing akkhan to 5k would have put it past LoD, and in the competing range of other top builds. Blessed shield on the other hand needs a buff like that and a little extra, it wasn’t too far off from condemn levels but still a little.

Condemn being overpowered is not correct, atleast not today.

But, with the new bomb buffs coming, another block occurs, since akkhan can be combined with invoker 2pc.

This is ofcourse all theoretical, and testing it on the ptr is the only way to make sure, but looking at it, bombardment will probably dwarf condemns “insane” multipliers.

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Bombardment might dwarf everything; it might be the strongest build in the game, even stronger than poison scythe. As I recall, its theorized to be 600-700% stronger than ET/Hydra.

i think Bombardment solo 140+ with 6000 paragon

Yes, devs, I want flexibility in my own build design, and not to be more locked into builds due to items requiring usage of 2+ skill slots. I’ve been playing wizard builds that I discovered on my own (currently hydras), in the natural process of pushing higher and higher GR levels, and this process of tweaking and inventing builds from gear choices is what keeps the game interesting for me. The more constraints you put on build choices due to item design, the less organic this discovery process is, and the less fun the game is for me.

Also, there are only so many equipment slots left after equipping 5-6 items for a 6 item set bonus, and if you compliment those sets with a few items that each require a skill (Blizzard in the case of Winter Flurry) in addition to the focus of the set (Hydras, in the case Typhon’s), then you end up forcing players to accept skill slots that aren’t necessarily the ones they want to compliment their main damaging skill (I don’t really want Blizzard with Hydras, I prefer other skills, and that flexibility, and same goes for the signature spells and the spectral buff, I’d rather not use a signature)

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Taking a moment to give thanks for all the feedback so far. The team here has been reading through the comments and the more feedback we can gather the better. Hopefully, this change in PTR timelines helps us take more of what you share and pushes us towards making the awesome decisions moving forward.

Just as a reminder, tomorrow’s changes are going to be phase 1 (1-week duration) which is a focus on the items/sets. In the meantime, let’s keep the feedback coming!

PS - I’ve been a ghost on the thread (my bad) - been busy jotting down notes & prepping for tomorrow!

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Also, as a reminder to EU folks…

Please note that there is only one PTR server and it’s hosted in the Pacific time zone. The PTR is usually made available to players in the mid-to-late afternoon in that time zone. This means the time it’ll be available to players in Europe would be as follows…

PDT = Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)
BST = British Summer Time (UTC+1)
CEST = Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)

PDT BST CEST
13:00 Thursday 21:00 Thursday 22:00 Thursday
14:00 Thursday 22:00 Thursday 23:00 Thursday
15:00 Thursday 23:00 Thursday 00:00 Friday
16:00 Thursday 00:00 Friday 01:00 Friday
17:00 Thursday 01:00 Friday 02:00 Friday
18:00 Thursday 02:00 Friday 03:00 Friday
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Just gonna leave this pre-ptr feedback (while also being a broken record):

If it’s Blizzard’s intent to get rid of wizard’s dependence on Death Wish and Etched Sigil; then I recommend changing Death Wish and Etched Sigil so that they buff only the channeling skills instead of changing Etched Sigil to benefit solely Energy Twister. I think it’s worth mentioning, that even with Death Wish and Etched Sigil, the channeling skills are still on the weak side of the spectrum.

For example (damage numbers serve merely as placeholders):

Death Wish:
Arcane Torrent, Ray of Frost, and Disintegrate no longer ramps up and now deal their maximum damage. Arcane Torrent, Ray of Frost, Disintegrate, and Disintegration Wave all deal 300-400% more damage.

Etched Sigil:
Arcane Torrent, Disintegrate, and Ray of Frost damage is increased by 250-300%, and you also cast one of your other damaging Arcane Spenders for 75% of their damage every second.

Also if you’re set on tying the Blizzard skill to Winter Flurry, then I ask that you don’t just let hydra benefit from the damage modifier, instead let it be a global buff. Same for Fragment of Destiny, have it’s secondary bonus benefit wizards globally instead of only Hydra.

For example:

Fragment of Destiny:
Your Signature Spells attack 50% faster and deal triple damage. You gain a Spectral buff for 10 seconds whenever you land an attack with a Signature Spell. You deal xx-xx% increased damage for each Spectral stack. Max 10 stacks.

Winter Flurry:
Enemies killed by Cold damage have a 25% chance to release a Frost Nova. You deal 125-150% increased damage to enemies in a Blizzard.

Or change Winter Flurry’s overall effect to something akin to:

Winter Flurry:
Cold skills release a blizzard upon impact. Enemies in a blizzard take 100% more damage from you. This bonus is doubled for Cold attacks.

Afterward, Hydra (via Typhon, serpent sparker, and magistrate), Energy Twister (via DMO, Valthek’s Rebuke, Twisted Sword), Meteor (via The Grand Vizier), Explosive Blast (via Wand of Woh and Orb of Infinite Depth), etc. can be buffed directly through the skills themselves or via their respective legendary items. That would help make up for the loss of power that is inevitable when the arcane spenders lose the damage bonus that was provided by the Death Wish + Etched Sigil combo.

Also, while I understand that it may not happen this patch, I do hope that Firebird is on Blizzard’s radar.

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will be great for speeds, but i dont think will broke the meta.

and btw, its hard as hell to build legacy of dream bombardment with the ideal rolls (thorns)

I think this is a really important point. If addressed - ideally larger but more limited buffs from both Deathwish and Etched Sigil - the patch can strengthen the Wizard class and give us more options.

Unaddressed… well, I’m excited to try the new Typhon build next season, but I’m worried the Wizard class could be left weaker and with fewer options than before.

Does that mean the 4th slot isn’t until the second week?

Also I know I speak for most of the PTR testers when I say this… 2 weeks doesn’t seem like enough time.

Thanks for passing on the info. :slightly_smiling_face:

Or make it craftable armor at least…

I salvage so much of the older armor set pieces. Its not hard at all to get the armor for the set dungeon you want to do.

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FR, can you address my original question:

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Wizard Spike
100% chance to hurl a frozen orb. Could make for some interesting builds based off of generators.

Also add: Arcane Orbs now Pierce

In addition to the buff. :slight_smile:

When does this go live on the 1st?

No no no! Make it trigger from the same skill. Either CAST blizzard on kill (and benefit from the damage boost) or simply have it cast/trigger from Frost Nova.

It would be FAR more useful if it triggered from Frost Nova, because then it works with Magistrate and Arlyse.

We don’t need any more awkward, unfun Wizard mechanics. Had enough of those, please.

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Duly noted, although personally I’d rather avoid on-kill mechanics as they’re not reliable against bosses who don’t have minions.

Honestly blizz. more space. PLEASE! I played hc almost everyday since game was 2 years old. need 2 tabs per class easy and then some. Dont blame bugs please. Fix it somehow no matter how. Do another stash. make tradable to another account or whatever. More and more sets and no more space. I know its not needed in sc but I really have a problem throwing away or loose endgear cause of space.

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If Blizz really cared about more stash space, they would finally FIX ARMORY SO IT CAN STORE ITEMS LIKE IT SHOULD FROM THE START, without giving us excuses that it can’t be done…
This way you could have up to 10 builds or even just ancient or primals items that you need stored THERE instead of taking place in your STASH. :man_facepalming: :woman_facepalming:

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