This is my feedback after getting a few SSF characters to 100. I will start by saying reknown needs to be rebalanced and boosted to be less of a drag, give better quest rewards too,.like better loot or revealing altar of lilith locations. I liked that some quests start as loot drops for players to turn in as an alternative to fetch quests.
We are well aware that the player base is split between the hardcore fans who want more Diablo 2 elements implemented and the casual audience who prefer more Diablo 3 elements.
I think the move that makes the game feel off is the decision to park all endgame content in Tier 4. The harder difficulty and resistance penalties just means monsters hit harder and you have less resistance; the trade-off for higher difficulty yielding better loot is not so great.
My proposal is to continue what Blizzard did with Helltides. Instead of forcing everyone to play on the hardest difficulty level, they should let players decide and put all endgame content on both Tiers 3 and 4. Post level 100, drop Ancestral Legendaries in Tier 3, and allow Uber bosses at level 100 to be soloable and less tedious. The same goes for the Tier 3 Pit; more resistances mean getting one-shot killed less at the expense of lower quality loot.
World tree bounties should generate random mini boss fights to feel earned and add unique items to the world tree loot pool.
Also, expand paragon growth opportunities. Capping paragon makes no sense. Diablo 3 was playable endlessly because there was seemingly no cap on paragon, so the more time invested in a season, the stronger players became in a season, retaining seasonal perks upon returning to the eternal realm. The Pit should have paragon nodes at the end of pit runs. When a Pit maxes out, instead of teleporting to the boss zone, have the boss character teleport right to the player with a summon spectacle, like they do in Helltides, also similar to how they spawn in rifts. Blizzard needs to make the Pit feel like Rifts, not Greater Rifts and remove the timer. Rifts started at level 1 and worked as an alternate, more targeted way to grow seasonal characters from 1 to 100 without having to get on a horse and be forced to explore, with Pit-related goals to gain renown. Adding errands to dungeons makes Nightmare dungeons cumbersome over time. I liked the condensed, action-focused nature of the Pit better as an alternative way to build paragon.
Stop the caps, it makes no sense to go open world with so many limitations or limiting unique item drops to piñata boss fights that are one-shot kill capable, and just add them to the overall boss fight loot pool, including Pit bosses and nMD bosses.
Redo unique items to be strong enough to enhance popular builds. Top-ranked builds from the leaderboard should add items that support those top builds in later seasons, as well as roll out unique items that greatly enhance underused skills with unique aspects to make them interesting.
Instead of power creep, build all characters to be on par with what’s most powerful before nerfing things to unplayable oblivion. Things seemed the most balanced before the S1 nerfs, and there’s been no sense of equilibrium since.
Give me more ways to finish my character build post level 100 in Tier 3 to get strong enough to take on Tier 4 challenges.
I think that would open things up more and buy the devs more time to make the game more fluid and less inclined to force us to play the game a certain specific way with specific builds or otherwise be indirectly penalized.
I think that would open the game to be challenging for those that want to be challenged, and fun for those that just want to be powerful, as well as provide fewer death penalties that discourage players from giving harder content a try.
Also, boss fights are backwards. What’s the point of wearing down a boss health bar only to find them grow more powerful after getting beaten down? Shouldn’t bosses be getting progressively weaker and losing previously powerful attacks as players wither boss health bars down? The health bar should literally represent a boss character’s will to keep fighting, as well as serve as return points after dying in solo boss fights.
Diablo 3 used to be the anti-MMO RPG with a focus on action and a seasonal gameplay loop. Anything remotely quest-like came with a lot of rewards and played faster. I liked when loot was not locked to a class, especially particularly strong items encouraging the player to try building a character of a different class and playstyle after acquiring items worth building around.
Subsequent seasons should be focused on making the journey from levels 1-100 instead of just slapping on more end-game content/gear and calling it a season.
The only timed periodic event that made more sense was the challenge rift. Being able to test drive top-ranked builds at max level in weekly challenge rifts that greatly rewarded you if you completed the challenge was a great way to boost the start of a new character or replenish cash and crafting materials.
Overall, make everything locked behind Tier 4 available in Tier 3, then add a Tier 5. A step back and a step forward.
If everyone’s flocking towards a specific build, as long as it’s not bugged, don’t nerf it without a counter-balance buff. The buff doesn’t have to be stats-based; it can be a buff that makes other skills in the class more tempting with new weapons, armor, or aspects.
Well, those are my notes…