Let's brainstorm sets!

PC General Discussion
41

You are correct, I really dislike set bonuses as I believe them to be lazy design when it comes to itemisation, regardless of what form they take. Why players want to give up choice is beyond me.

We can just agree to disagree and that’s fine, just because I don’t like your ideas doesn’t mean I didn’t read your posts.

Sets are totally unsatisfying in D2 and bring very little to the game, including levelling with only a few exceptions. Diablo 3 as everyone seems to agree turned set bonuses into a joke. To be honest I cannot even think of any other ARPG that has made set bonuses work in a way I would consider a success.

Blizzard these days are not known for their creativity, they prefer to refine existing ideas. Therefore, the odds of Blizzard somehow finding the solutions seems highly unlikely.

There are just better ways to have great itemisation than trying to find some convoluted ways of adding set bonuses into the mix.

Hope that sets the record straight!

2 Likes
42

TBH there is way too much text but not much for Sets. The only way I could see Sets work without distracting the other items flow is by intending them for Paragon-specific upgrades (or largely intended for Paragon-specifc upgrades)

Something like this:

Immortal King:

Hammer:
    2 pieces: Gain 4 additional Paragon slots
    3 pieces bonus: Glyph “Crusher” gains 6 additional levels

Chest:
    2 pieces: Glyph “Territorial” gains 4 additional levels
    3 pieces: Common Strength nodes provide double the amount

Gloves:
    2 pieces: Magic glyphs and nodes gain 2% bonus for every 50 Strenth or Willpower (whichever higher) you have
    3 pieces: +30 to all Stats

Haven’t posted the standard affixes for each of these but you get the idea :slight_smile:

1 Like
43

I think this is quite a cool direction. Gives a little more space to be creative than the ‘standard’ Get 10 damage setbonus. Especially the one that gives extra slots. That makes it so that for leveling chars its very good, but for level 100chars it still has a nice bonus.

44

Yeah it seems you just dont like sets at all, which is fine :slight_smile: I found sets in D2 very compelling. Heck my entire stash is filled with greens, some completed sets some not yet. It is a means to continue playing on your high level char. D4 has done too much like D3, that they cater the loot towards your current char. Sets should drop for all classes randomly. Then when ur max level you still have a reason to blast, trying to find set items for potential other classes!

45

I couldn’t have made it any more clear I thought. I am also not alone.

2 Likes
46

Unfortunately Blizzard is just not innovative any more. Everything in Diablo 4 as far as gearing and systems go is a copy from either a feature of a previous Diablo game or from another game.

Do I believe it’s possible for there to be a new concept for sets that wouldn’t mess up the game? Sure. Do I believe Blizzard has the creativity and expertise to pull this off? Absolutely not

This is a very different era from when D2 came out. Back then we didn’t have streamers devoting their lives to breaking every game as fast as possible and displaying it for the world to see. We didn’t have multiple websites with build guides telling everyone all the best skill and gear combinations to shoot for within days of a game or patch going live. Most players then had to explore and learn on their own or from their friends, and only a few went crazy on min-maxing. Now it’s switched - just a few players explore and learn on their own, and most are getting their information from websites/streamers. This tends to be a polarized environment where people aim for what’s best and most powerful and shun anything that isn’t up to that level.

Do I believe it’s possible to have middle ground sets that might serve some purpose in the leveling journey for players who aren’t min-maxing or using build guides/streamers to aim for particular gear and builds? Sure. Do I think a lot of players would like a feature like that? In the current environment, no. Do I think Blizzard would get bad PR from streamers for making something in the game that doesn’t help them min-max? Definitely. Do I believe many people would automatically disregard these middle ground sets as junk without even really trying them based on what they hear from streamers and read on websites? Absolutely. Do I think that a set concept that is used for min-maxing and doesn’t compete with current item slots would add anything meaningful to the game? Not really - gearing is already quite complex and this would just become one more set of things to farm that would feel like a requirement instead of fun. Given all this, do I think it’s even worth Blizzard’s time to attempt this just so certain people with fond memories of past games will get green bordered items to collect? Nope, not even a little.

Blizzard just did a massive redesign on all the loot in the game. Let’s please just play this new system and see how we like it before we go demanding other things that Blizzard is sure to monkey paw when implementing.

P.S. Diablo 4 already has sets. They are cosmetic only. You get a couple if you buy the battle pass and others are for sale in the shop.

47

Cosmetic sets or items with somekind of synergies would be cool, but I’m against the idea of D3 -style sets.

For example, if you wear a specific sword and shield, there would be a small Lightning Nova every time you block an attack. Nothing too powerful.

48

I had this idea of, some of the current aspects could become set aspects. This way you would have to sacrifice certain gear slots. 2-4 peices max, that when you equip them will prowide, their legendary power individualy, but will also prowide a set bonus, like the one you mentioned. No big numbers ofc. Like lets say fir example, with a necro, you equip Unyielding Commander, Frenzyed Dead and Reanimation, now your selected minions can have both their upgrades active. Or something like that.

49

I could get behind that idea, where a ‘set’ is a cosmetic or visual effect. Not related to power. This is actually a really good idea.

Becomes more of a rare transmog collectors thing that adds new visual skill effects etc.

50

This is a big statement. I can’t believe it because I look at Overwatch (1) and I know that Rod said the D4 team is new. And I see all these campfires and they show us they care, their updates and that they listen to the majority. I’m not a white knight, but these are palpable facts.

Blizzard is a big company. It’s afraid to take risks because it must please everyone or the majority of everyone. I wish management had more faith to let them experiment more. That’s obviously not up to us.

I can tell you that gamefaqs and uesp are sites from the 2000s. The Arreat Summit, dii, diablo.incgamers, many fan-made bulletin boards, indiablo de, dcb etc etc) were hot sources of information. And you didn’t need a permanent connection to copy some cheat codes. We had I-net cafes. D2 was online and beside the greed that made some people break servers to dupe, there wasn’t much to break from it. Even so, people made mods (which is something awesome, as long as you’re allowed to do it).
We had the community, we were the community and we made it awesome.

Do you know why poe is popular? It’s because it lets you experiment ALOT. And it had a good base. I can assure you that there’s a mass that DOES experiment and “do their own thing” ignoring streamers. It’s such a wrong idea to think everyone follows streamers and blindly copies.

That makes it sound like Blizzard is held hostage by streamers. I’m sorry, I can only laugh on this one. Yes, PR is bad, but you know what happened to streamers dissing poe? They got banned or lost massive viewership, because people still wanted to play the game.

So what if it’s not min-maxed? It’s stuff to try out and decide for your own if you use it somewhere or not. If min-max was the obsession of every gamer then we might as well get a button that when clicked says “You win!”. Not everyone is perfect. And that is fine! Not everyone is a winner, but you also don’t judge yourself like the top 1% streamers do either. This makes no sense, that ppl would play only to be the best.

Everything is tried, min-maxing or not. People can make up their own minds. Not competing with item slots means it’s a win-win.

Demand is a strong word. Nowhere did I demand anything. I offered vectors for perspective and food for thought.
Yes, I look forward to trying the new systems. I didn’t play much PTR because I didn’t want to break the game and work on testing for free. I’m a creator, not a destructor. But I will show flaws if I find any on live.
The best time to talk about things in perspective is imho before the season launch. Everyone is looking at news, reading, but can’t play. This is a prime time for the forum. It’s a big shot for devs to discuss topics for perspective before the season launches, not only in campfires. After the launch, it’ll all be hotfixes, patches, all kinds of emotions and a fun fresh start.

/e

By saying “nothing too powerful” you imply wanting power coming from a cosmetic and being sold for money. That’s a big no from me.
As long as cosmetics are just cosmetics, it’s fine and it’s a good addition. But the moment you start selling power, you’re turning all hell loose. This isn’t Diablo Immortal.

51

That’s not what I want. I want effects like Trang-Oul’s Avatar from D2.

52

Wow I actually agree with this guy for once. Nobody wants another D3 except the kiddos who like bling and flashy numbers and shiny shinies and super low attention span. Cmon Blizz do something ORIGINAL

1 Like
53

I would love to see sets, but nothing like what late game D3 sets were like.

One idea - only small piece sets; 2, 3 or maybe 4. Each set item has a specific affix that cannont be changed (although like any affix it can drop as a greater affixes). The item can be tempered, but the set affix cannot. In all other ways a legendary - so it would be a way to farm for specific affixes besides tempering. It can can be raised though masterworking. And maybe a small bonus with each set item but very small. That way if someone wants sets, they can use them, but it isn’t a power choice.

The other would be transformative (and this would take a lot of programming). Say you have a set for cold sorceress. It modifies fireball to be cold ball (or chain lightning to chain frost), and a bonus to that type of damage. So it your class fantasy is a specific element, you can make different skills and keep the theme.

In both cases, it plays into specific build or class fantasy without a huge amount of power (the simplicity of elemental damage in my second idea could get a little much). So basically transformative, not pure power.

54

Caring and listening does not equal innovating.

This just goes to reinforce my previous point that they don’t focus on innovation.

I never said that everyone follows streamers and blindly copies - those are your words.

I see you already forgot about the first big balancing patch before season 1. Blizzard fixed some issues with classes that were too strong, consistent with their vision of the game, to make a more level playing field across classes for season 1. The streamers revolted and their followers ran with the outrage and started review bombing the game and trashing it on social media. Then lots of negative press coverage came out, and people left the game in droves, many who probably weren’t greatly affected (if at all) by the changes. Blizzard had to put developers in a livestream to grovel and promise never to release a patch like that again (a patch to balance classes and make a level playing field for the season!) - and their original vision for the game was effectively dead. This is what I mean when I say this is a very different era from D2 - nothing like this would have even been possible back then.

It’s only a win-win if it adds something meaningful or useful to the game, which you didn’t address at all. Adding garbage to the game just for the sake of adding stuff is counterproductive.

I disagree. You can’t get a full perspective without experience. Very few have experienced the new system yet. We may have wildly different opinions after leveling a new character up to 100 and going through endgame content. We just have to wait and see.

Obviously you aren’t going to change your mind, which is fine. I would just like you to acknowledge that a lot of people don’t want sets (as is evident in this thread) and try to address those concerns rather than dismiss them. Let’s not add something to the game that has no real purpose just so people have items with green borders to collect.

55

No one else recognized those massive nerfs until the benevolent streamers pointed them out.

56

I never claimed that. The point is not just the streamers - the environment we have now where a few people can create a massive reaction on social media which spreads to nearly every player that plays the game is something that didn’t exist in the D2 era. I know people who weren’t even playing barbarian or sorcerer who quit because of the first balance patch and never came back. How silly is that?

The whole reaction to the patch was wildly overblown and out of place. The characters people were clearing content with would mostly never be played again as soon as the season started…eternal is just a character graveyard. All classes still had strong builds they could clear all content with. Many players were never even willing to give the patch a chance - they just threw childish tantrums.

57

It wasn’t a few people, though. That patch had a massive impact and people immediately knew it. That mob didn’t need a leader. I get what you’re trying to say, but this isn’t a good example.