I can definitely agree with you here.
This would be true if the meta/ buffs and nerfs didn’t change this so often. Especially because I play sorc.
But thats the thing, you don’t have to look at any guides or website nor do any math at all. It really is extremely simple.
I think you are confusing your self or you just don’t like it at first glance so you get blocked, which is fine.
D3 system was also really simple, maybe even too simple to the point of feeling meaningless.
So i don’t know what else to tell you, to me it seems that you just don’t like it but then again its not hard, complex, unintuituitive or clunky system. In my opinion is quite the opposite, pretty straightforward and dull.
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It seems like you finally understood the point of my post.
I would wager most people do find it unintuitive but most people who are still playing this game have just gotten used to it. Riding a bicycle is unintuitive, but it becomes pretty basic after while. That still doesn’t make it unintuitive.
The reason I made this post is I took a few weeks break, logged on, did some pit runs, and when I went to put in 7 paragon points I knew I had to look up the build I was trying to follow a few weeks back. I knew it would be burdensome to search for it again or have to change my points into something new based on another build. That makes for some pretty lame gameplay.
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I used builds for my two characters based on “best” ones posted quite some time ago and I’ve made every adjustment myself including with VOH and they’re fine.
I scrapped a published one that my friend was using and rebuilt hers entirely for a the same equipment and skill build and it’s far better.
You CAN do this yourself if you want. Basically pick some boards with good node clusters, don’t exclude defensive ones, understand you might not benefit from every legendary node, and then pick 5 glyphs. Shorthand, pick the crit damage and the one for the first board that will boost the elite damage.
300 points is enough to maximize the effect of all 5 glyphs and hit almost every node cluster if you plan well.
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I think that’s the difference between knowing how to make builds work in general vs know which options to pick for one build. When you grasp the former the meta changing doesn’t matter because you know how to figure it out.
Do you have this same problem with your skill points? Is the main complaint “with 300 paragon points, following a build someone else made is more difficult”? It seems like your issue is you want builds to be as simple as possible so they are easy to copy unless I am misunderstanding something.
My recommendation would be to simply ignore what someone else has suggested and give it a shot yourself. Prioritize the legendary nodes that synergize with your build (i.e. if you specialize in fire damage, focus on nodes that increase fire damage). If you understand even slightly what your build is focused on, it becomes pretty easy to select paragon nodes in my opinion. The limit to 5 boards means that most of the really complicated decisions have been removed. You get the 5 main legendary nodes you want, then focus on the main rare nodes (while being able to activate your glyphs), and that is basically it. It may feel complicated at first because there are 300 points to spend, but it becomes really obvious quickly once you are even slightly comfortable understanding how your build works.
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I do agree with this. I guess my issue is still literally the layout of the board itself. What would be the difference in being able to add one point into intelligence, as opposed to picking intelligence from 4 circles around previous the previous circle.
To clarify, by biggest issue the the worming of nodes around the board as opposed to what I should be investing on the board.
I can agree on you not liking the systen but its not unituitive. Following your bicycle example everything can be unituitive then if you twist the argument enough.
Anyway, im pretty sure this is not the final iteration of the paragon system, maybe it will become more simple or complex depending on players feedback.
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The 5 paragon boards are very beginner friendly, as long as you have enough points. It doesn’t matter how you build it as you will always unlock all offensive and defensive nodes. It is like spraying a target shooting boards close range with sub machine guns. Just acquire more bullets, spray the boards with blind fold will do. 
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I definitely see where you are coming from here. On one hand it does seem arbitrary to force you to level X number of levels before you can get to the good stuff.
But in the other hand it also makes you to think about it and refine your paths over time to make them more efficient. I’m constantly moving points here at there to get little tweaks. I think if it was simplified to something like certain nodes cost N points so you have to save up before spending them you’d lose the feeling of progress every time you added a node to the board. And even though one node doesn’t feel like much all those +5 primary stats add up and make a difference.
I get the feeling what people want is a one and done deal but what the developers want is the paragon board to be an ever shifting living thing. Right now it’s neither and that’s probably where the friction is.
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The 5 limit paragon boards was the dumbest thing implemented in Diablo 4. I can handle the rest of the junk put out but limiting to 5 boards including the starter so you really only get a selection of 4 since you are forced to use the one board built specifically for your class.
Simpler? I’m not sure how it could be any simpler other than removing them all together and giving you the stats. Literally just fill in the nodes going for DMG and defenses, the last 100ish doesn’t take any thought at all just fill in the rest
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helurrr…it’s a game…not a damn math competition…yeah, so fun!
I think you might enjoy pacman. You barely have to use your brain at all!
agree. im playing multiple classes and despite the necro, no board seems to be fitting to lets say a specific playstile. necro - oh i go minion, commander, golem - done. super boards.
but like spiritborn: if you block 100 times get 1% dmg if you run in a circle and do a rain dance?!
if you use 3 same animal skills in a row get 1% attack speed?
this is not wow … though some fights feel like zerging a boss down for half an hour.
just give the spiritborn a dmg over time board for the centi, a thorn board for the gorilla etc …
same goes for every other class - the boards feel so random.
i really miss d3 gameplay/skills …
oh you want to use traps? here is one poison trap, one physical trap, a shadow ultimate trap - good luck finding modifiers that buff all of em.
i find it amusing, that they literally copied tags from PoE - but then do NOT USE them to buff specific skills.
Paragon boards went backwards. Bliz doesnt know how to actually balance them so they artificially balanced them with limits. Player choice got limited. Not great.
They are complexity for the sake of complexity. But pretty much comes down to looking at which 4 boards give the best (x) damage legendary nodes. And which 5 glyphs give the best (x) damage. Slap those together and there you go.
Could have accomplished the same thing with a much simpler system.
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Here are two improvements that would replace the need to look at a guide:
- List how many of each stat is within radius for a glyph node, do this when picking a board as well as when hovering over the glyph node.
- Pick out which rare clusters you want to reach, and the game can give suggestions about the most efficient routes or those that might yield more of one stat over another. Someone said at 300 paragon you can reach every cluster, you can’t. I know they might just be taking some hyperbolic liberties, but it needs to be said. I am at 273 and have like 4 or 5 clusters I’ve chosen to ignore because I don’t have the points.
- As a third thing, the game should have some optimization features where small changes in pathing help you get the stats you need to unlock the secondary bonuses on rare nodes or if you just want to focus on a certain stat.
Just things like that, where the game lets you focus more on your overall goal than in going cross-eyed or relying on build guides.
For people that don’t even understand what I’m saying here, god help you, your boards are probably a hot mess.
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