Fix/nerf 12-link being the only bis attack endgame

bows get quivers so it would make sense if GGG added scabbards for non bow 2h weapons as a way to help them keep up

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Hexlord#2826 wrote:

Physical attack builds basically mean you are forced to use Impale for scaling (non-instant clear, arguably worse than DoT), you hit the cap for Impale scaling very fast (and of course it is not as easy as affixes on rings & amulet, herald + hatred - you actually have to sacrifice lots of passive nodes / watcher affix / glove implicit / weapon affix), you are even more so forced into using Abyssus as the only source of +phys that survived, which in turn forces you into stacking armour to survive the increased phys taken. You are also forced into two-handed weapon, because it is by far the best way to scale raw phys damage.

Basically Physical Attack is a very narrow power fantasy in PoE if you want to actually deal damage, and has a much lower ceiling than elemental builds.

Elemental builds get to enjoy wearing various fun unique shields, crafting insane 12-link setups, using any skills that have conversion, using huge variety of added damage sources (lowering the requirements for the weapon), etc etc.

I understand why it is like this (conversion rules, as such physical damage is the most powerful due to stacking phys&ele more multipliers), perhaps that could be resolved by buffing Brutality to add base physical damage, and adding sources of flat added damage (e.g. veil on gloves, unique jewels, etc.) that cannot be converted to elemental damage.

E.g. "Adds 20-30 physical damage to attacks" affixed by "Cannot deal elemental damage".
I appreciate everyone's responses, I understand the issue much more clear now.

or buff Bloodthirst Support, 2% of Maximum Life while on Low Life added as flat phys damage is way to low.

this is a byproduct of weapon's inherent damage is no longer MAIN contributor to the damage.

various and generous sources of flat (cold per frenzy, lightning per int, gems, item rolls) make room for weapons that no longer have direct flat damage as their main feature - but lots of 'gimmicks' that they are allowed to get away with BECAUSE they get all the flat from other sources

this is the first major problem

second is how damage conversion works in POE - precisely - how multi-step conversion works combined with 'xyz as extra' and 'nonchaos as chaos'. POE2 fixed that, POE1 cannot afford such change because pretty much ENTIRE game balance sits on these (rotten) foundations

any buff to numerical values of phys weapons buffs converted damage MUCH more. making 2h weapons have 1500 pdps at high end will benefit players that convert that phys several times more than actual phys builds.

Impale, Bleed, easier access to leech, ability to ignore enemies PDR for cheap - all should equal that, but they are lavishly outscaled by 'convert/penetrate/reduce res' - more scaling vectors beat less scaling vectors any time.

Impale is strong, like doubling the damage with some investment IS STILL not enough and the accessibility of gear rolls (best impale effect is influence affix on weapon!) is terrible. Getting to 100% impale chance, extra impales and impale %effect costs a fortune in passives.

Bleed is ok, but when build as an 'accidental' damage you find that actual bleed chance is a problem and you have to pick supports that scale both hit and bleed. few numerical tweaks might do (maybe it is time for bleed to get its PDR negation as well?)

Bloodlust and BloodThirst Supports are so bad, they are most likely NEVER used. and the entire premise of 'Brutality's high multiplier balances out the pen and -res on elemental builds' is a joke. it never did and definitely doesnt today

So so true sidtherat#1310, big truth bomb! If GGG does not listen there be trouble... Although I do start to think the reason GGG stopped balance patching in big way is because retention is better this way (perhaps most people want to keep doing what they do forever..??)
Love how reasonable everyone is in this thread! Maybe GGG will listen it will be a big WIN!
Thank you for your attention to this matter

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Hexlord#2826 wrote:

So so true sidtherat#1310, big truth bomb! If GGG does not listen there be trouble... Although I do start to think the reason GGG stopped balance patching in big way is because retention is better this way (perhaps most people want to keep doing what they do forever..??)
Love how reasonable everyone is in this thread! Maybe GGG will listen it will be a big WIN!
Thank you for your attention to this matter

we have both been complaining about roughly the same thing for quite a while. Its not something they're interested in fixing. Its just a simple fact now. There are hard ceilings on these builds. It is what it is.