Based on the videos out from some of the streamers (linked below) per feedback from the game developers about changes made based on S5 PTR feedback:
What developers don’t seem to understand is that having extra item slots enables those classes to have many more aspects, affixes, and tempering additions than others can have. This significantly buffs those classes while significantly limiting the classes who don’t have extra item slots. Increasing damage in some classes and decreasing it in others isn’t going to make up for the difference between having extra aspects, affixes, and tempering additions from having additional item slots. There is no reason they can’t give every character class the same number of item slots. It’s like none of the developers have ever read a fantasy book. Sorcerers are insanely powerful and can use multiple weapon types and have them available to them at the same time in most books. They don’t typically use bows or bludgeoning weapons, but many use staffs, wands, daggers, swords, and sources (focus) and have all of them on their person at once. There is no reason sorcs in D4 can’t have an arsenal like barbs do. They don’t necessarily need to have the same arsenal skill setup, but the developers are just utterly ridiculous in their presentation of the sorc class and how much more they think a barbarian would outclass literally every other class of combatant. It’s time for all of the classes to have the same number of item slots. A barbarian SHOULD have massive amounts of power, and I don’t necessarily think they need all the nerfs they are getting. The change instead needs to focus on leveling the playing ground by giving the same item slots to each character type and balancing each class.
