I was hoping to test the S18 Triune theme but the feature was not available on my NS account. Perhaps that was intended, but the previous 2 seasonal themes were available to NS accounts (RoRG and LoN themes). Kind of a bummer but oh well.
Legacy of Dreams - nice addition as it allows a bit more flexibility in gearing LON type setups. The tiered system to benefit regular legendaries as well as ancients is a nice touch. Won’t be as strong as S17 bonus since you lose a gem slot but allows more variety in NS setups. I would however like a way to use the 2 piece weapon/offhand sets (Chantodos, Jesseth, Istvan, etc) with LON/LOD.
Executioner - this is a nice legendary power, as it provides an alternative to Frailty and can work with support/zdps. Would be BIS for followers if it worked. In general, I’d like to see consistency on what works/doesn’t work with followers.
Messerschmidt’s Reaver - nice to have an alternative to In-Geom and Zodiac, and could be quite useful for farming and speed runs where enough kills are guaranteed, but its effectiveness diminishes as mob HP increases and therefore likely precludes it from pushing builds. This may be ok, as on-hit mechanic may be too powerful considering that many push builds benefit heavily from CDR. If assists could proc this item there’d certainly be more to test. This item would really benefit from an icon.
Stone Gauntlets - extremely powerful defensive buff to armor, but the IAS and movespeed penalties are really harsh. Thematically it works but limits usage to cases where CC resist can be overcome. Invigorating Gemstone seems bugged with this as movespeed still occasionally comes to a standstill while in archon.
Squirts Necklace - nice to have an alternative powerful jewelry slot that can compete with CoE, Endless Walk, etc. Can be used with LON and LOD, which may shoehorn it into those builds that cannot use either of the other jewelry sets (EW and F&R). This item REALLY needs an icon similar to EW that helps us understand the ramp-up/active/inactive mechanic. Currently no way to confirm what works.
Flavor of Time - potential to be extremely powerful, especially with Conduit and Power. Even Channeling will allow high uptime of super-forms, LotD, Simulacrum, etc. The mechanics also appear to be inconsistent, ie party benefits without having FoT equipped. If this stays it needs to work like Gloves of Worship in that only players with FoT equipped benefit. It needs to be a considered choice to wear/cube this item, rather than everybody getting the benefit just because a support uses it. Certainly good that it takes a valuable slot that has competition from EW, Squirts, etc.
Echoing Fury - seems fine but consider kills from assists, which could make it an interesting choice for support characters.
Captain Crimson’s - interesting mechanic that offers a lot but has high requirement (3 pieces or RoRG) may be too much of a tradeoff for pushing, but could find a home in farming builds. High CDR adds a substantial amount of sheet DPS.
Final thoughts:
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On-kill mechanics are useless for support/zdps characters, limits usage
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Must add relevant buff icons, that is design that encourages thoughtful gameplay. Please