Played a few days of the PTR and wanted to share some thoughts on what I’ve noticed.
The Good
Solo mode is cool. Though I typically would play solo any way, I’m happy there is a new mode for people to get into and enjoy. I doubt I’ll end up playing it (because I find it enjoyable to power-level people if I happen to see someone in General ask), but I think it being its own thing with its own leaderboard is a smart and sound move.
Over all, a great addition for those who have wanted this!
The Bad
Paragon changes are interesting but I’m not sure they hit their mark. It would be nice to see them get a little more absurd honestly. I do think that it’s in the right direction but would love to see it opened up a bit more for some interesting and silly builds. Cap the paragon at 1000 points and let people pour up to 1000 points into one stat! let em go crazy!
I feel like the overall change was made to both increase build diversity and to allow for an achievable power balance across most types of players (casual vs. ‘always on’ players), but the 200 per paragon group limit really doesn’t allow for a robust build diversity with the way that many of the stats are grouped with one another.
Though it does succeed in giving casual players an achievable goal, I would love to see the cap limitations be totally blown away for both the Paragon Groups AND Individual Stats.
Let us have 1000% Attack Speed!
Bonus Thought: It would also be interesting if consuming your Paragon Points made the game more difficult in some capacity. Doing things like giving regular mobs affixes, increasing density, damage, and so forth. Let the tides of hell fight back as our Nephalem powers awaken further! I’ve noticed that regular mobs in Diabolical Fissures sometimes have affix abilities though unlisted. Could that same mechanic be applied to outside of a fissure and in a more obvious way?
The Ugly
The most confusing part about this season, at least for me, are the Diabolical Fissures. I don’t really get what they are supposed to provide beyond a means of getting a few more bounty resources. And for what? It just feels like an event that doesn’t provide a tangible reason for doing it. If the payoff was genuinely unique (completing a fissure grants a unique item / property / power / cube power / ANYTHING) I could understand it, but without a quantifiable reason to do them besides getting a few more bounty mats, I don’t see myself ever looking at them once I have all the mats I could ever want.
Additionally the new monster affixes, while interesting, aren’t at all a concern once you’ve reached a reasonable power level. This makes me worry that they will be more of a slog for people who you’re trying to reach with the paragon cap changes, possibly negating that win!
I’ve heard people on here claim that they have increased chances to drop Primal gear, but unless its confirmed / specified, I still don’t see much reason in doing them more than a handful of times.
Closing Thoughts
I think this season has some potential to be interesting, but after Season 28, this doesn’t feel nearly as impactful or interesting because there is no particular challenge. As we saw with the Altar, even if players have to grind a stupendous amount, there is a certain fun in completing bespoke challenges that make the game feel a bit like a scavenger hunt. Though it wasn’t perfect (I’m looking at you Gibbering Gemstone…), I think the spirit of what it brought to the game should be given some attention as it’s those sorts of interesting challenges that give us players something to do (and to look forward to) besides the repetitive grind we’ve all come to know so well.
Last but not least, a BIG thanks to the D3 team for keeping this game going!