The future of meta (the trap of starpact)

General Discussion
1

Let us suppose for a second that Blizzard successfully disabled Bazooka and nerfed Holy Shotgun next patch, as they promised. Let us also suppose that none of the new sets and buffs produce any 150-capable builds. What does that mean for 4-player meta (on nonseason, since we don’t know the seasonal theme)?

The meta will be zmonk, zbarb, LoD (non-Archon) Starpact, and Bone Spirit necro.

LoD Starpact will definitely be 150-capable, since before Bazooka was theorycrafted, LoN Starpact already cleared 150 a few times. Bone Spirit Necro will probably be the only 150-capable RGK, if the nerf to sader is implemented correctly.

This scenario would be very bad. As many have argued, fundamentally, Bazooka is not the problem. Starpact is. No matter how much they balance other builds, as long as the starpact channeling state interaction is not disabled, the meta will be impossible to shake up. Bone Spirit necro is fun to play… for the first day. It’s so gimmicky, just like thorns.

Once again, it’s impossible to make everything absolutely balanced. There will always be one build that will emerge as the strongest. But in the current state of the game, and in this hypothetical future, starpact continues to dominate, and none of the meta dps role is truly diverse.

They might be able to balance solo classes, but if they care about balancing the gorup meta (and solo wizard, ofc), then Starpact needs to be addressed.

But here is another problem: As we all know, almost all of the trash clear builds rely on area damage. Starpact is one of the few exceptions which concentrate its damage to a single hit and avoids the lag issue. If starpact is disabled, then the new trash clear meta will very likely be a lag machine, such as witch doc’s spirit barrage or firebirds, or barb’s whirlwind.

This is the further challenge - Blizzard must think of some way to deal with the lag issue in high level group play. Fixing area damage on 150 is not easy. Redesigning builds (as in the case of whirlwind) is also not easy, and it’s not guaranteed to solve the lag problem (once again, as in the case of whirlwind). The only other solution for diversifying the trash clear meta without forcing people to play lag builds is an across-the-board stat squish, which is also unrealistic.

3 Likes
2

If they buff Shadow Impale set to 141 solo @ 10K Paragons with perfect gear… It might be RGK.

3

What? Bone spirit Necro? I’ve never even heard of that and Google isn’t providing results.

Do you just fire 4 bone spirits from one end of the map while RG is spawned at the other with defiler cuisses?

4

https://lmgtfy.com/?q=Bone+Spirit+RGK

Also searching forums can help you:

Please, when you open new topic, check if there was already one on same subject.

3 Likes
5

Truly amazing. :-1: :-1: :-1:

1 Like
6

I searched for “d3 bone spirit necromancer” and I didn’t get anything. So yes, I did look

7

That is why I helped you. I also try to help you understand why you piss off some people :slight_smile:

8

the build has largely flied under the radar because of the dominance of thorns necro and (now) holy shotgun. but if shotgun is nerfed, bone spirit will be the top choice for rgk meta. it is capable of 150 rgk under 2 mins. i doubt if impale or any other build will get buffed to that level.

9

It’s also a pain to play, so assuming the next best boss killer for 150s is impale, I’d gladly take a DH bk over a necro for anything non push related (ie: anything).

As far as star pact is concerned, unless they completely remove/rework the star pact rune, I don’t think bazooka is going anywhere. You could always transform a few miliseconds later and get stacks through AD. You do less damage of course, but the current damage is so great anyway, it wouldn’t matter. Like, halve the damage and you hardly feel the difference because everything is completely one shot.

10

thanks for the reply. are you, by any chance, familiar with the inverse archon starpact? i heard people talk about it at the beginning of this patch, but havent seen any in action.

11

HailFail if you would have looked at Nagarjuna’s profile and saw his 5k hero’s you would have become tongue tied and unable to type on your keyboard for some time.

The sheer weight of Nagarjuna’s hero’s should have made you pranam instantly.

Heed my wisdom HailFail.

12

I know some people like this build. But exchanging the constancy and stability of Crusader for a relatively much more complex and more subject to RNG build is not welcome. I wonder how random groups will do to push, Bone Spirit needs a very well trained group.

If AoV is nerff, I hope they don’t kill RGK with this, they could remove the SoF limit and at the same time impose something that would prevent this build from being efficient solo.
EX: When HF hits 3 or less enemies, its damage decreases (or increases) by xxx%, so it would not be able to be as efficient on solo, but it would maintain as a good RGK.

I sincerely hope that BS and Thorns are not the only build for push 4P

13

I’m vaguely familiar with it as any theory crafter is, but I’ve never played it as my group knew about bazooka from the get go.