9 days until S1 opens. Let’s talk about S1 and temper our expectations to the relevant.
First, let’s examine Smouldering Ashes and how they affect account wide buffs:
XP gain 12% (+5 from nearby player, +5 from elixir), 22% max
Gold gained from vendors 20%
Rare mat from salvage chance 40%
Duration of Elixirs 60%
Drop rate boost for Hearts 20%
This is not only a small boost to farming QOL; it also implies Blizz wants to encourage you to roll alts.
This leads me to speculate that they will give us some form of stash QOL.
Moving onto itemization:
"Season will have 32 Malignant Hearts across 4 categories. That is seasonal only starting 7/20.
6 new unique items + 7 new legendary aspects will be for everyone along balance updates/changes starting 7/18 with the update."
- PezRadar
32 hearts, 4 categories.
6 uniques. 7 legendary aspects.
Balance updates/changes
Likely what we’ll see here is some increased build diversity with the 6 uniques and 7 aspects aimed at giving players more survivability options. The Key word here is “for everyone.” To me, it feels like a bandaid solution before fixing resistances in S2. But if it works, it works, and we’ll see them nerfed later on.
Along with 32 hearts in 4 categories, the categories being Offense, Defense, Resource, and Utility, this implies that they are addressing the gaps in combat fluidity, and I’m assuming you can start farming for these right away. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Lastly, the balance updates/changes. I remain convinced that Vulnerable status is the #1 limiting factor in build diversity. If they don’t address this by reworking Vulnerable and adjusting mob scaling accordingly, perhaps they’re expecting the hearts to carry you instead.
In summary, I have some optimism that S1 will improve the foundation vastly, but I am managing my expectations to protect from disappointment before the patch drops on the 18th.
What do you think?
