3.25 melee changes - the go the bad the ugly

before I start: Lightning Strike is not melee, mkay? it just isnt.


the good:

- warcries are meaningful. no matter how many of them your build uses, you feel every single one of them. it is cool. i like normalization of durations, buff mechanics etc. it makes much easier to understand what they do.

- rage is actually great power equalizer. 30-40% more damage actually works. it seems that people (me included) who claimed melee's issues are damage, damage and damage were right..

- tree rework is cool, albeit there are still 100% duds and the pathing is horrid (there are MANDATORY clusters there, that means that pathing is stale)

- endurance charges. 4% ele reduction might be bit much, but 3% would still make a world of difference

- new bases. these are homogenized to the extreme and i have no idea why non-top-bases even exist (everyone filters them out). besides that - having a 4k AR chest that actually can have GOOD stats is really nice. such spike in defensive power helped everyone but the biggest benefactors are melee players who actually NEED this boost.


- flat 15-20% damage boost to all melee skills (and several others).

- Flesh and Stone rework - surprisingly fun and strong. great to see it work with aura effect

- normalization of 'ignoring enemy phys reduction'. great, simple change


the bad:

- tree rework is.. troubled. several of new thematic clusters are pure garbage (like Vengeance for rage) and key stats are clustered forcing certain pathings in an area that is already very, very rigid pathing wise.

- mana. lack of generic mana leech/gain on hit is VERY problematic. elemental builds starting as Marauders have it real bad

- the buffs were also applied to mechanically outstanding skills that did not need any help (Splitting Steel, Lightning Strike, Molten Strike). these skills benefit outrageously from the newest POE's disease: return projectiles. outright 100% more damage for one ring slot (and it even has good stats!) should make devs careful. but no, what could happen if we make Lightning Strike (ranged) deal only 10% less damage than Cleave but let it hit twice.. what could happen?

- Slayer + Ralakesh + Badge == idiocy. this setup, this extremely universal template is destructive to the game. sorry but it is no longer fun at this point. it isnt melee's problem per se, as melee benefits the least from it, but it sill distorts the picture and shifts power benchmark up

- strike attack animation is NOT fixed. i dare anyone to take staff, templar and Static Strike and tell me that it feels ok. some skills were fixed, some dont - please fix them all. Static Strike/templar/staff is a torture

- still no reasonable support for ailment defences. fortify mastery with duration - ok, fine (~50% reduced duration is a good start for one point, but it is conditional).

- fortify is still iffy vs endgame on subset of builds. 'fortify on stun' is completely useless concept, stun requires a great rework to match freeze in performance

- the block. sorry, but ~90% all block is stupid. better access to block is nice but a) it makes 2h users look stupid b) GGG balances around that. Svalin is one of the most reckless additions to this game since original Headhunter. Glad's 4pointer isnt any better. even the first (50%) node is amazing power


the ugly:

- lightning strike. like what the actual fu..? GGG doesnt know that this skill hits ~twice? it got boosted to ~900% damage effectiveness for any player that knows how to position. i know some are happy to see a 'melee skill' with 25% representation but what it is is a giant oversight

- banners. the bonus types and values are cool (capped block/spell block on a 2h mace for banner and few tricks? sign me in), banners being stackable is even greater. but.. the upkeep is unrealistic without WARCRY PUMP. sorry, but is that by design? entire mechanic LITERALLY unusable without one mastery? seriously?
with no investment you can clear entire map and have your banner charge up ONCE. it is insanely bad experience. no other mechanic is outright unusable without 8passive investment.

- uneven nature of melee changes in general. most of the 'rework power' is cumulated into warcries. if your build cannot exploit it - it will most likely suck (unless propped by borrowed power or obscene gear). the melee's buff is very uneven and warcries (esp Overexertion support) is responsible for significant % of it. it sucks that also means 'piano gameplay'. after playing warden with 2 tinctures and 2 warcries (+3rd Vengeance) i long for 2button gameplay of some braindead caster

- once the melee's numbers are sorted out (it was a step in the right direction, still many steps to go), the actual game has to start supporting melee:
- less degens in boss fights
- less damaging attacks close by
- bit more lenient hitboxes (brain phase in maven's fight with small strike range is.. not cool)
- stun as a defensive mechanic should work on 'magic tricks': stunned essences/beasts should STOP casting spells ffs!
- itemization. compare how far you can go crafting 'archmage' ring vs 'melee' ring. that there is the power melee actually needs. no, 20% exerted damage is not it.

- ffs do something about 'stackers'. you can play phys weapons but objectively it is just stupid thing to do. quality multiplier was cool, but phys weapon gives you just damage, 'stacking' gives you defences as well and you can scale it like crazy, incrementaly. phys weapons are metamod, 10div and mirrors. hardly anything inbetween. you dont find 1200pdps 2h on the ground.. nor you craft them by accident (and you dont play them, 1h stackers are stronger AND tankier.. no need to ever do 2h stacking)


in general - it is better, really better. could pursue some of my 3.10-3.15 era characters and rework them into 3.25 shape and it actually made them work.

but there are some gaping holes and the mandatory nature of some of the passives/mechanics means every tree in 'melee area' look identical

ps. attack speed removal SUCKS