GGG, please reconsider Risk Scarab limit

The nerfs are fine - maybe too hard, they could do something like "2" not "1".
But this crying for a nerf is not nesseccary.

Hardcore juicing creates a big difference between the normal casual player and veteran hardcore players.
I guess, GGG wants to resolve these gap - making everyone can somehow getting good things - and no. Casuals dont care about something with scarabs.

The Normal Casual does not even know half of the benefits of the more than enough mechanics... and not even a "juice method".

For me as semi-casual: Im fine with the changes. Hopefully GGG will not let the veteran big crying ppl win with their blended mind.

"

Pizzarugi#6258 wrote:

Nah, I think putting a cap on the juice is a good thing. Players who aren't running these strategies aren't going to be screwed over by the market being oversaturated with loot.

If players choose not to engage with highly juiced content, or simply can’t, for one reason or another, that ultimately falls on them. This game has always been built around rewarding those who pursue optimization and mastery to the fullest. Yet with this patch, that very philosophy has regressed.

Much of the challenge that defined progression has been stripped away, allowing players to reach their ceiling far too quickly, only to find themselves without meaningful goals and leaving the league prematurely.

This change will impact not only those who dwell in the deepest layers of endgame but also players progressing through early endgame stages. With less juice circulating, items will naturally become scarcer, causing significant shifts in the in-game economy.

Normal items, the baseline gear for most like t1 uniques will see moderate price increases due to fewer drops overall. Acceptable crafted endgame items, those that serve as stepping stones for midgame players transitioning into higher-tier content, will become disproportionately expensive as their supply tightens due to less players engaging with profit crafting due to higher base expenses. Fractured bases will see a good increase of price, making it more inaccessible for those who already struggle to put up a 20d mediocre min-maxed build.

T0 chase items and top-tier crafted gear will see a sharp increase in value as both high-end drops and essential crafting materials become scarcer. Dedicated endgame players—already equipped with the wealth, infrastructure, and efficiency to acquire whatever they desire—will feel little impact from the rising prices. However, everyone else, particularly those who struggled even in leagues with wildly inflated economies and dirt-cheap items like Necropolis or Affliction, will face a far harsher reality this time. What was once merely out of reach for these players will now be entirely unattainable, and the few items that were just within grasp will slip further away, especially if they continue approaching the game with the same level of effort as before.

What’s fundamentally missing in this patch is a proper recalibration of player power to offset the reduced difficulty. Content was already relatively easy before these adjustments, and with further simplification alongside increased player strength, the sense of progression will erode even faster. The result will be shorter league longevity, fewer items entering circulation, and a destabilized economy built on scarcity rather than activity.

In the long run, the mid and lower-end segments of the playerbase will bear the heaviest burden. Endgame players will continue to thrive, maintaining wealth and access to premium gear as usual, though their engagement may hinge on how well the league mechanic sustains long term interest.

Speaking as someone who actively plays at that level, my concern ultimately comes down to how well this league can sustain my engagement. If there’s nothing meaningful to do and the content becomes trivial far too quickly, there’s simply no reason to keep playing. If I wanted a mindlessly easy experience, I’d just log into Diablo 4 or other games. And I think a lot of players feel the same way, feeling less and less engaged when the game drifts away from what has always defined it, content that rewards those who love to min-max, push limits, and theorycraft true masterpieces, not clear every upside down with mediocre day 4 gear.

"

VoidWhisperer42#5989 wrote:

What’s fundamentally missing in this patch is a proper recalibration of player power to offset the reduced difficulty.

And you lost me.

1. The game is easy for you, that doesn't mean it's easy for everyone else. There's way too many threads being constantly made about the harshness of the exp loss penalty to suggest the game is in a good state and isn't prone to random, unfair 1shots.

2. What you're asking for is, like I alluded to earlier, raising the skill floor rather than lowering the skill ceiling, pushing more players out of the game. Everything you said about items having less supply also applies if more people quit because the game is simply too difficult to be worth playing.

3. Uber bosses and T17 maps exist if you want a challenge. If you feel they're too easy, then the solution to that again is to have GGG nerf whatever builds you run until it stops feeling easy.

"

Celestriad#0304 wrote:

"

Cartography Scarab of Risk now has a limit of 1 (previously 5)

This upcoming nerf is such a bummer. What's the point of building very strong mapping characters when we're hitting the ceiling so much faster now?

This is a massive L for solo players and high-end endgame maps. Disappointing.

Doing the same every league gets boring fast. You didn´t even see the new potential of strats so wait till its a real bummer before crying about the Risk nerf.

"

TayPoE#6379 wrote:

"

Celestriad#0304 wrote:

"

Cartography Scarab of Risk now has a limit of 1 (previously 5)

This upcoming nerf is such a bummer. What's the point of building very strong mapping characters when we're hitting the ceiling so much faster now?

This is a massive L for solo players and high-end endgame maps. Disappointing.

Doing the same every league gets boring fast. You didn´t even see the new potential of strats so wait till its a real bummer before crying about the Risk nerf.

...What?

Dude, the only Scarab changes they made were to make them worse. The farming meta hasn't changed. The only thing different is Breach. You're acting as if there are major changes and we all just need to wait until we see the new stuff.

Again, the only "new" content is Breach. The existing mechanics have been nerfed to the ground.

We're just pointing out the obvious and trying to change course.

I'm always baffled how this games community is fine and downplaying valid concerns when it comes to nerfing the high-end, or perceived "1%" of players.

Taking away options and strategies because they aren't easily accessible or attainable by everyone is not fine. That's how you end up with homogenized slop like D4, FFXIV, WoW and so on. We used to have fractured maps for those who dared and could - gone. Risk scarabs (and strats like gigantic exiles) were something to look forward to - gone.

You can't delete a plethora of strats while giving powercreep and maybe one good league mechanic in return. It's tone deaf.

Now imagine it was the other way around with GGG taking away from the weaker, casual or otherwise less engaged playerbase. Rest assured both the forums and reddit would be on fire. We've seen it when Harvest got nerfed, we've seen it in 3.15.

Yet somehow it's fine and "long overdue" when it's something that didn't concern said players to begin with. They see better players having currency and enjoying things like T17 risk farming and start complaining. My fun didn't take away from yours, you did that by yourself by expecting the same results without putting in the effort.

GGG even added T16.5 maps to bridge the gap yet somehow a T17 nerf, on top of the hilariously bad scarab changes, was still necessary.

Fomo culture in modern gaming disgusts me.

"

Celestriad#0304 wrote:

I'm always baffled how this games community is fine and downplaying valid concerns when it comes to nerfing the high-end, or perceived "1%" of players.

Taking away options and strategies because they aren't easily accessible or attainable by everyone is not fine. That's how you end up with homogenized slop like D4, FFXIV, WoW and so on. We used to have fractured maps for those who dared and could - gone. Risk scarabs (and strats like gigantic exiles) were something to look forward to - gone.

You can't delete a plethora of strats while giving powercreep and maybe one good league mechanic in return. It's tone deaf.

Now imagine it was the other way around with GGG taking away from the weaker, casual or otherwise less engaged playerbase. Rest assured both the forums and reddit would be on fire. We've seen it when Harvest got nerfed, we've seen it in 3.15.

Yet somehow it's fine and "long overdue" when it's something that didn't concern said players to begin with. They see better players having currency and enjoying things like T17 risk farming and start complaining. My fun didn't take away from yours, you did that by yourself by expecting the same results without putting in the effort.

GGG even added T16.5 maps to bridge the gap yet somehow a T17 nerf, on top of the hilariously bad scarab changes, was still necessary.

Fomo culture in modern gaming disgusts me.

Absolutely correct. I typed up a long response but it was more of the same. I had a little bit more to add in regards to certain streamers' bad takes being implemented but it doesn't matter at this point.

It's funny though, that streamer I mentioned doesn't even play the game anymore...but he was instrumental in its ruination.

a side tangent - multi-Risk farmers used filters SO STRICT that they mostly picked only items out of reach of 'normies' anyway. the regular scarabs, most non-T0 uniques, even the mid-range scarabs - all left on the ground (and the T1 uniques went straight into the duster, so no martket impact anyway)


it is story old as time - 'wealth trickles down to the normies' - it isnt the case, never has been. not IRL, not here.

and if .5% got their toys taken out.. i care about it as much as these players care about non-meta builds, non-meta strategies and non-meta div/hr. 'barely'

good players (in POE mostly people with no RL obligations aka able to play for 10hrs straight - games EXPECTING this time of time investment is another, serious, issue) will get rich no matter what and if you want a challenge - pick a Cleave or Artillery Ballista, be a Chad, show us how its done

because cries from FRoSS Tricksters (aka "I can IGNORE all challenges and pretend Ive overcome them") kinda dont have the weight


the audacity to defend farm methods that literally broke the game engine - is a new low.


note: most 'balance shifts' DESTROYED weaker builds and archetypes while keeping outliers overperforming. I didnt see anyone complaining.

"

sidtherat#1310 wrote:

a side tangent - multi-Risk farmers used filters SO STRICT that they mostly picked only items out of reach of 'normies' anyway. the regular scarabs, most non-T0 uniques, even the mid-range scarabs - all left on the ground (and the T1 uniques went straight into the duster, so no martket impact anyway)


it is story old as time - 'wealth trickles down to the normies' - it isnt the case, never has been. not IRL, not here.

and if .5% got their toys taken out.. i care about it as much as these players care about non-meta builds, non-meta strategies and non-meta div/hr. 'barely'

good players (in POE mostly people with no RL obligations aka able to play for 10hrs straight - games EXPECTING this time of time investment is another, serious, issue) will get rich no matter what and if you want a challenge - pick a Cleave or Artillery Ballista, be a Chad, show us how its done

because cries from FRoSS Tricksters (aka "I can IGNORE all challenges and pretend Ive overcome them") kinda dont have the weight


the audacity to defend farm methods that literally broke the game engine - is a new low.


note: most 'balance shifts' DESTROYED weaker builds and archetypes while keeping outliers overperforming. I didnt see anyone complaining.

You're entirely missing the point here by focusing on the impact that the .1% of the playerbase have on the rest of the economy. It's about what the .1% of the playerbase have to look forward to. Content that makes them want to make builds that can defy it. Stacking Risk Scarabs has been one such thing, and it is totally valid to have thoughts about that.

I can also tie both hands and play the game blindfolded to make the game more difficult for myself, but the point has always been risk vs reward and playing Cleave isn't that.

at some point wishes of .1% are so far detracted from the reality they start to damage the game for the remaining 99.9%

once the tail start to wiggle the dog, you know something is not right

catering to people that only play the most broken, frequently bugged/oversight, shit, making sure that their abnormal power has an outlet DAMAGES the game as a whole - people using 'normal' builds are gated out of the content

if they quit? I care about it as much as they care about my way of having fun.


your comment about Cleave clearly shows - it is not about these players skill of effort - it is about picking the broken shit of the day and then getting rewarded REGARDLESS of your skill, because that shit plays itself

the fun aspect of that is that most of these .1% still believe it is them, not the build they decided to abuse. out of the 'Risk farming gang' you can blindly guess what build they were playing. try farming 4*Risk or Blightheart with Cleave :) if you can - then it is 'the effort and skill', if you cannot - it is exploiting broken shit and calling it skill. i have no respect for that.