About descent and class balance

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Pwere wrote:

Rangers don't need more gems, they need a quiver. You're so screwed as Ranger if you don't get some form of damage in the first two zones...

Get the Curious reward from Lost Cathedral, problem solved.

That's the third zone :)
You waste a lot of time by rushing for that chest and then backtracking to get lvl 4, plus you lose your shot at a guaranteed coral ring + the loot from Messier or blue/rare packs along the way.

Ranger isn't weak by any mean, but their start is tedious.

Please change the witch starting gems....

Fireball is one of the worst starting gems in the game.
Starting in a regular race....every witch has fireball and uses it only to kill hillock, then they switch it out.

So there is fireball, which is awful and then there is raise zombie, which is almost as bad. Raise zombie is a HUGE mana sink that early and they absorb maybe 1 hit from a mob and do no damage.

Then we can't get both FP and firestorm???? Real. If we take FP, abyss area becomes really difficult, if we take firestorm, the earlier areas become significantly more difficult.

This is the main reason why there are next to NO witches at the top of descent.

Please do something about this.

Given Firestorm (truest AoE spell in the game) has natural synergy with Raise Zombie (roadblocks that draw monsters into a specific location), it seems logical to me to pair the two spells.

Of course, Firestorm/Decoy Totem would be even better, so maybe that should be a Templar caster option and not a Witch thing.

wanted to try out playing a Descent race in "hard mode", so went ahead and picked Witch, then Ranger.
just for the challenge. I'm crazy like that :)

result: terrible ranking with both. zero points.
and two client crashes to add insult to injury.
challenge proved too much for me.

but out of the two, I must say Ranger was pure torment: shoot, run back, shoot, run back, "my mana is gone". repeat while still sane.
Witch? when you are both squishy and forced to pick-off monsters one at a time (out of the horde charging towards you), you are in serious trouble.

oh well, lesson learned.
I should stick to my beloved Duelists and Marauders. maybe an occasional Templar or Shadow.
and GGG, please rework the Ranger and Witch starting point. make both start naked and unarmed - for "Black plague possesses thee" mode.

Fireball is not that bad, but raise a zombie totally useless. It's way faster to just run through and kill mobs yourself.

The core problem with Raise Zombie as a low-level skill is that it is balanced entirely around being heavily supported. Minion Damage shouldn't even exist, there's a dozen support gems that all increase minion damage that aren't minion-specific; in return, zombie base damage should be higher. The same is true of zombie life; they shouldn't be so frail that they need Minion Life to survive.

This is how I think Descent races should be handled in future seasons with respect to starting provisions.

I believe, regardless of which class you choose to play, you should start the race with THREE PROVISIONS CHESTS!!!:O

There should be a Strength, Intelligence and Dexterity Provisions chest for each character at the start.

If you choose the Strength Provision chest, the gems/gear for Maurader and Duelist should drop.
If you choose the Intelligence Provision chest, the gems/gear for Templar and Witch should drop.
If you choose the Dexterity Provision chest, the gems/gear for Ranger and Shadow should drop.

I should clarify, by gear I am speaking of weapons/shields. Regardless of which chest is chosen, it should only drop 1 mana pot & 2 wisdoms.

Now it is very likely 99%$ of non-caster players will choose the Strength Provision chest but at least those who want to run the race melee/elemental will start on equal footing.

I think this makes sense, but it's Mr. Wilson who will render final judgement.:)