They need 1 of 2 things. 1) They need to generate more resource or 2) They need to do more damage.
It is unfun to use a basic skill 10 times to refill a resource bar while doing 0 damage to mobs. It’s a “pause” on gameplay to currently use basic skills. If they did more damage then it wouldn’t feel nearly as bad having to use it 10 times for resource because at least its helping kill things in the mean time. If it generated more resource then the periods of downtime wouldn’t be nearly as long and gameplay fluidity would be improved.
I don’t claim to have all the answers, but basic skills needs something. They are extremely unfun in their current iteration.
Edit - I want to also say that the idea of the basic skills are generally good, if they just did a bit more than they currently do I’d have no issue with them. A lot of basic skills are actually useful in their own ways or have cool effects. They just do 0 damage and take forever to gen resource.
110 Likes
agree, and the reply from alot will be low levels is supposed to be weak but even when I had my necro at level 44 and maxed my basic skills it was the same…
6 Likes
100% agreed. Hopefully we will see some changes, because the current iteration is absolutely boring.
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I’m not even talking about low levels. In fact in lower levels basic skills actually do kill things. I am talking about 70+ gameplay. Basic skills do 0 damage and their only purpose is to generate resource or in some cases apply vuln or something else. For a lot of classes it is a pause on gameplay and extremely unfun.
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Been playing a sorc today. I just run around whipping everything to death and casting my skill once every few minutes if it takes too long to kill a group. Yawn.
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Yeah I agree they need to fix it. It’s really killing any engagement with mowing down mobs because I know once ive let it all out on this pack, I’ma have to mooch about waiting a bit.
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I’m glad sorc doesn’t have the same issues as other classes, but the solution to basic skills being boring is not “roll sorc then”.
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“Well I have no issue with it so I don;t see why you do”
There’s many variants at play as to why you might have that experience vs someone else who isnt.
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Have you played D3? I’m guessing D1 and D2 were the same also. Your basic skills are basic, and unless you spec in to them they don’t do much.
However, they’re used for generation, setup, and combos.
For instance, you can hit something with a generator (basic) to build up your resource, cause them to take on status effects such as chilled/slowed/vulnerable etc… then use a spender (core) that does more damage to chilled/slowed/vulnerable, and more based on how much resource you have when you cast etc…
This makes the basic skill “useful” even though it itself doesn’t do much damage, without using it your core skill wouldn’t do as much damage as it does.
If you don’t have such a synergy setup, then you should look at what you can change to improve your build, or find a way that you can do without a resource generator and ignore your basic skill altogether.
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Remove basic skills, remove cooldowns and give infinite resources.
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Of course I’ve played earlier diablo’s. I made an edit to my above post that the idea of basic skills are great, and some of them do useful things. That doesn’t change the fact that they are currently unfun based off resource gen or damage. I want basic skills in the game, I am fine with builder spender gameplay, they just feel so bad right now in their current iteration.
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I mean, you can specialize in Basic skills. There’s plenty of augments to allow it. You just can’t have them be good AND have the rest of your kit feel good lol
Will say I like Frenzy on the Barbarian, once you’ve taken the talent to allow it to stack defense. While it does chum-all damage, it at least feels meaningful to stack it up to 24% Damage Reduction while attacking faster and faster.
The others basic abilities just feel kinda pointless and non-impactful.
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Again, I am not talking about basic skills being OP or even having massive builds based off them. I am simply stating they need a little extra something compared to their current iteration. I am not for having builds that are 0 builder and all spender, I don’t think diablo 4 was based off this being a thing. It was built off builder spender and thats fine. They should just do a little something more is all.
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Completely understand, but things will get better.
For instance I use my basic skill (earth spike) while kiting things around waiting for a full resource refill (which could be 1 attack), but i’ll hit pulverize after 2-3 casts because that will be enough to cast it.
Once I get more total spirit, more spirit generation, and lower spirit cost, i should barely ever need to cast it, and if I do 1 cast should be sufficient.
Of course, it’s still not going to hit for much, but with the right setup i’ll just spam my core skill and maybe hit my basic once in a while.
If you’re spending so much time casting your basic and it’s not doing damage, you’re either playing wrong, haven’t got your build rounded out yet, or you’re trying to play a basic skill setup without any of the buffs needed to play that setup.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with how they work, it’s just a matter of getting what you need to make them feel good.
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Don’t know. I’m Arc Lash basic, so I rely on that 10th hit for a mass stun so I can take advantage of my 75% extra dmg to stunned. 10 is my number!
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I found a unique that refunds 25% of my resources. I may just wear it forever, lol. 
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guaranteed drop from Lillith - isn’t it 35% if you hit 5 enemies? or does each class get a different version of it?
I think the one I have is 25%. I’m not absolutely certain, but I know it helps. 
Maybe they should add more resources for each point? Not sure if any do, but at least for me I only add 1 point because it is pointless to add more.