Content Update 2.6.0 Balance Changes

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Exile009 wrote:

ES v/s Life was scheduled to be rebalanced in 3.0, not 2.6. Vaal Discipline change is just a teaser.

This. I'm pretty sure theres a huge revamp upcoming in many mechanics like armour, evasion, big changes to the tree and with that also mob damage, skill rebalancing and life/es changes.

It's to be expected, buffing life before an huge expansion is released in just a few months would skewer the upcoming balance, its much easier to rebalance it all for 3.0.

This is a filler league, a fun one that i'll play, but it's mostly here to buy time come 3.0.

For the people moaning about "huge nerfs" and "oh you killed x", at least have the decency to wait and see the numbers before you overreact to something. (Vaal haste was -slightly- nerfed = waaah VH is now useless). BF damage was reduced due to weapon damage going up as well.

I'm confident 3.0 will revamp everything, especially the armour/life/es/evasion balance, it just needs to be done in one go, so we'll have to wait.

"Vaal discipline no longer gives additional energy shield"

lol nice, now there is what, 2 useful vaal skills without needing to build around it completely? Vaal haste which was also nerfed, and vaal lightning trap

None of the other skills are usable without building completely around them with jewels, 6L them etc. Hopefully vaal skills get some love in the future as most of them are useless. Though vaal spark was my most played build in breach league.

Guess that just saved up a 3 socket setup (vaal haste - vaal disc - inc duration) and might actually be able to use golems or something

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SkyHigh9181 wrote:

Wooooo!!! Excited!
Edit: Arcing speed?

probably crackling speed

Awesome :D

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Kroughfire wrote:

but I think that nerfing the strong builds is the way to go.

The buff to one handed is very much needed, and a wonderful thing to hear is being implemented this patch.

They're not the just the "strong" builds dude they're the only VIABLE builds currently. Like that one guy said no one is killing Shaper with Ice Crash. With less "strong" builds to start the league I'm guessing we now have to pick specific builds or just get screwed. Only until the new meta reforms can people start rebuilding what was taken down.

Also if one-handed weapons can potentially hit as hard as two-handed weapons now in 2.6, what's the point of using a two-handed weapon then?

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rinleezwins wrote:

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WizBlizz1994 wrote:

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Attlus wrote:

I'd get it, if like, the base AOE was like, current AOE+added AOE. But it's looking more and more like I'll have to have increased AOE on at all times....or not at all if it's diminishing returns?

This is confusing.

Yes, I guess it does mean that if you need AoE in your build you're gonna HAVE to get every AoE node on the tree to be viable. GGG has created what they tried to stop it seems, unless I am as confused as you are.

From my understanding, the values on all existing aoe modifiers are going to be increased, so only builds with heavy aoe stacking will be affected by diminishing returns. (RIP Pillar builds showcasing max aoe abilities?)

If that were the case, than it would be to prevent uber AOE builds, but people who can't afford bis everything, didn't grab every AOE node they could, and use inc AOE, will generally have more aoe?

I hope that's what this means.

LMAO!! All these tears. Do you crybabies realize that almost all of these changes have been REQUESTED by the community for a while now?

AoE nerfs, Blade Flurry nerf, ES nerfs (more of those will come in 3.0), crit nerfs - all of these mechanics have been an issue that's been raised not just by GGG, but by players themselves on the forums and on Reddit. A lot of us aren't too happy with the screen-wide, speed-clear fest that PoE has become of late.

None - and I mean none - of these changes look like they've made any skill un-viable aka unable to handle endgame content. Rather it just makes them slower as they can't kill everything within 2 screen of your character in 1 click anymore (well, that's the hope, anyway). You can still clear maps just like before - you just (hopefully) can't pretend you're playing "Gone in 60 seconds".

Meanwhile, we have people complaining about there being no life buffs and, of course, the perennial complaint about 1-shot. First off, 1-shot is intentional. If nothing in the game can kill you before you can heal back up, then this game really has become a faceroll. They'll never remove the potential for 1-shot (except, of course, for those who stack enough ES to overcome that aka CI aka just wait till 3.0).

As for life buffs, it's already been understood that a larger life v/s ES rebalance is scheduled for 3.0. Whether that will significantly buff life or just significantly nerf ES, I don't know. But you've been given 1 more league to enjoy the CI meta. If you don't like that, then wait a few months. Or play a life build, I have - and in the current CI-meta league too. Deliberately chose not to play any AoE skills as well - Scorching Ray and Frost Blades, for those interested. They're perfectly viable. And yes, including against Shaper - you can find enough vids online for proof.

Besides all this, the Threshold jewel changes promise to make things more interesting. And contrary to that one guy, I've played a Volley Fire build - it's fine even if they limit it to just 2. Rolling Flames...well, that's another story, but they didn't say every Threshold jewel would have a hard cap. Indeed, the Viper Strike one looks pretty nice, actually.

All in all, I'm actually rather happy with these changes. And more changes will always come. For those complaining that GGG still hasn't finished balancing their game, I'm sorry but they'll never finish. Regardless of whether you think the current game balance is good or not, it'll never be "over". This game is intended to be continually shifting and evolving. So I'm afraid you're never going to have the comforting surety of safely having mastered the game for all time. It's much like how the real world operates in that sense, actually - nothing is ever going to be 'as safe as houses' (including houses - see GFC 2008). Get used to it. Get gud!

P.S.: Or maybe you can master the game for all time. This guy has, after all - https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/105920 But you'll never do so by just following whatever the current meta is. There's a lesson for life in that as well. Peace!

Need to buff HP nodes. Because CI ES builds much much better than HP builds. No point to HP builds.

"Sunder now deals more damage with its direct hit, but less damage with its secondary area effects."

Sigh, who the fk cares about the direct hit? Sunder isnt even that crazy of a skill, it was just good and you nerf the damage on the only thing that matters? wth...


-Another crit nerf with those dagger and sword implicit nerfs...sigh.


-Those threshold jewels are still all trash.


-Aoe better not be shit.


-No CI nerf





But at least you buffed ice crash i guess.

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Blade Flurry has had its damage reduced.

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Vaal Haste now grants slightly lower values of attack, cast, and move speed.

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Vaal Discipline no longer grants any bonus energy shield.

Path of Nerf in action.