Is Melee Supposed to be #1?

I've seen a trend with this forum, and its getting quite annoying. Whenever melee isn't the tier 1 build , the forum is full of people shouting for nerfs to skills that beat melee.

It's as if melee is supposed to be the best build, and if it isn't, then something is wrong with balance.

For an example:

Season 1: Sidro perfected his caster trapper and out of no where took the US invitational.
-Now when I watched those matches where he destroyed all the melee builds, I saw that the melee were playing so ridiculously stupid, 9/10 times they would rush sidro and he would throw 2 traps at his feet and that was game. Because of that, they got smashed.

So how did people respond???
-NERF clever construction!
-NERF traps!
-NERF high explosives!
-NERF nerf freeze pulse!

Whats easier, having to change your own build/strategy, or start complaining on the forum until GGG nerfs the skills to please everyone? Apparently the latter. IMO I think the CC nerf was outright unjustifiable.

Season 2: Dsfarblar and his firestorm character. I really love the fact that Dsfarblar made an entirely unique build with a skill no one has ever thought to use, firestorm. So far he has been crushing melee. I can think of a couple builds that can beat him.

When he first started winning in season 2, I didn't hear people talking about whats the best counter against him. All I heard was nerf, nerf, nerf.

-NERF smoke mine!
-NERF firestorm!
-NERF stun!
-NERF molten shell!
-NERF molten shell!

Rather than calling for nerfs, how about actually trying to counter his build. Its probably a better use of your time rather than you complaining on the forum.

There's always going to be a top build, and it doesn't have to be melee.
If you actually read this far, I congratulate you!
IGN: Beardedwizzard
well, u seem to have totally forgot about the huge nerf to dagger builds as one of the best melee build before season one: nerf from the PvE Tree (dagger nodes and acro and crit damage gem) and introducing huge damage penalty to flicker strike and whirling blade and some to molten strike.

I personally feel that nerf was justified same for the nerf to trap gem and possible nerf to molten shell because I'm not a fan of one shots in pvp.
Last edited by Mephisto_n on Mar 4, 2015, 5:16:50 PM
I was going to make a similar thread before. I could be totally wrong in my assessment but it seems that melee generally tend to complain the loudest.

It seems as if the mantra goes "melee takes the most skill to play" therefore it should be top of the ladder. I don't agree with that statement what so ever, but there seem to be a very vocal few that do.
Formerly Firebrand
_Thriller_
_Boomshakalaka_
Last edited by Dopamineloveaffair on Mar 4, 2015, 5:28:05 PM
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mrmagikboy wrote:
I've seen a trend with this forum, and its getting quite annoying. Whenever melee isn't the tier 1 build , the forum is full of people shouting for nerfs to skills that beat melee.

It's as if melee is supposed to be the best build, and if it isn't, then something is wrong with balance.

For an example:

Season 1: Sidro perfected his caster trapper and out of no where took the US invitational.
-Now when I watched those matches where he destroyed all the melee builds, I saw that the melee were playing so ridiculously stupid, 9/10 times they would rush sidro and he would throw 2 traps at his feet and that was game. Because of that, they got smashed.

So how did people respond???
-NERF clever construction!
-NERF traps!
-NERF high explosives!
-NERF nerf freeze pulse!

Whats easier, having to change your own build/strategy, or start complaining on the forum until GGG nerfs the skills to please everyone? Apparently the latter. IMO I think the CC nerf was outright unjustifiable.

Season 2: Dsfarblar and his firestorm character. I really love the fact that Dsfarblar made an entirely unique build with a skill no one has ever thought to use, firestorm. So far he has been crushing melee. I can think of a couple builds that can beat him.

When he first started winning in season 2, I didn't hear people talking about whats the best counter against him. All I heard was nerf, nerf, nerf.

-NERF smoke mine!
-NERF firestorm!
-NERF stun!
-NERF molten shell!
-NERF molten shell!

Rather than calling for nerfs, how about actually trying to counter his build. Its probably a better use of your time rather than you complaining on the forum.

There's always going to be a top build, and it doesn't have to be melee.
If you actually read this far, I congratulate you!


While I agree with your point I think there are still reasons for this. Traps season 1 were ridiculous. The damage they dealt was insane. They're at a good place right now and can still beat top builds. You're right, melee did play him bad, but there were plenty of melee playing him good t hat would still lose simply to the 1 shot mechanic RNG. Molten shell is even worse than traps were. The dmg is ridiculous and you cannot really counter it. Sure you can theoretically time it out while eating dps for days, or spec throw/bow is while..eating dps. But even then, a smokemine and a recast puts you at the same problem. Molten shell needs a nerf, and I think there's well enough reason to do so.
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mephisto_n wrote:
well, u seem to have totally forgot about the huge nerf to dagger builds as one of the best melee build before season one: nerf from the PvE Tree (dagger nodes and acro and crit damage gem) and introducing huge damage penalty to flicker strike and whirling blade and some to molten strike.

I personally feel that nerf was justified same for the nerf to trap gem and possible nerf to molten shell because I'm not a fan of one shots in pvp.


You're so right. Daggers are already one of the most counterable builds (belts hardcounter, tricorn hardcounter, nodes hardcounter) and daggers have been specifically nerfed to like 50% effectiveness whether its nodes, gems, or skills. I keep playing my dagger and finding a way to make things work despite constant nerfs. I understood why those things happen and now just look for balance across the board. That's why I'm so vocal about having swords nerfed.
Good post!

Honestly there isn't a single skill that I think is SO ridiculous right now that it actually needs a nerf. I've been really impressed with the build diversity in LLD events.

Having said that, melee does get hard-countered more than any other archetype. That's the main reason why I chose to play a hybrid build this season. If you go all-in on melee (or any other strategy for that matter), maybe it is fair if you get hard-countered by a few things. People shouldn't assume that any combination of only 1 or 2 skills will be able to beat any other combination of skills. (personally I never have enough skill slots to use all the skills I want!)
Most of meele qq is about hld imo and its right becaouse ele dmg seems to be far superior to meele in hld.
And when you telling that meele choose bad strategy against sidro s1 bulid or dsfar s2 bulid you dont see one thing - meele need to rush them becaouse both of these bulids are about control of field. Every singe second match is going on these bulids gaining advantage cos of combos like temp chains + chill//freeze combo. Same goes about puncture trappers. Once you out of flasks(warding//stauching//heat) youre basically dead.
Im not telling "OMG NERF THESE NOW" cos i agree with fightgarr - there is no need to do that - i just think some skills needs to be looked and same goes about meele and its dominant skill(cyclone).
Oh, so you think molten shell is in a good spot? Interesting, me myself think it should be buffed
It's hard to remember what you have forgotten
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Why are police looking for missing people? None of them were missing last time I saw them
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Oh, so you think molten shell is in a good spot? Interesting, me myself think it should be buffed


Well my post was more centered around LLD. I know you play HLD a lot, and my knowledge in that is limited, so I can't quite speak for HLD.
IGN: Beardedwizzard
Unfortunately there will never be a point where every build can beat every build by simply being more skillful. The meta is always going to be; X is favored vs Y, Y is favored vs Z and Z is favored vs X. That's simply how it will always be.

The real problem is if there is no closing the loop of the rock paper scissors, where it is X>Y>Z.
I feel at the moment that the loop is closed. I think that the Templar caster can be beat by a few builds. The problem is, these few builds are not as popular and easy to make as melee.

Truthfully, everyone is out to want their build to be the best. Everyone strives for their build to break the loop and be X>All builds. This is why people try and get that one build that beats them to be nerfed.

This is understandable, but it creates an unhealthy meta. The best meta is a Looped meta, which implies that there will be a build that defeats melee, and you just have to live with it. If there were an equal amount of every build, you would easily see a different 1st place person for each tournament, but thats not the case. How it is currently is that the majority of builds are melee (they are easier to build), and there are few Templar casters (it is growing though). As templar casters grow in numbers, builds that counter them will grow too. The problem is the meta is disproportionate because some builds are easier to make than others.

Given time, the meta will be much more balanced--and this is simply a consequence of pvp being in a temp league.
IGN: Beardedwizzard

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