Blood Magic

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Mephasm wrote:

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this gem makes bloodmagic keystone pretty much useless!

to compare:

- bloodmagic gem
you use 2 auras (for example hatred + grace)
but you have to give up 1 socket for your main attack


- bloodmagic aura
you cant run auras
you save 1 socket (basiaclly you can use added fire which has about the same dps increase like hatred - but you dont have grace , if you grab 1 aura reservation circle you can also run purity/vitality for free)



in conclusion : the difference between these 2 is that you have 1-2 free auras when you use bloodmagic gem


the solution : add a draw back to bloodmagic gem (for example 30% reduced attackspeed / 15% cast speed)


maybe to buff bloodmagic keystone there should be a non percentage based aura again that you can run for free with BM

Are you insane? You want more good gems to be nerfed? The Blood Magic keystone needs to be buffed, leave the gem alone, it's fine as it is. You have to sacrifice a good bit of damage to use it already.

its probably because you play a spectral throw build with bm support gem like everyone else does ...

i use BM support gem on my EK build with 3 auras aswell and i wouldnt be mad about a 15% cast speed nerf , since this combination is just too strong - the life sped instead of mana for spells on bloodmagic is no drawback if you regen it back almost instant

to buff bloodmagic keystone the only possibility would be to bring back non percentage based auras -

dont know if you read my post carefully or just saw "nerf" and turned mad but the problem is that you have 1-2 free auras by just using the gem instead of the passive node


- edit -

i dont want good gems to get nerfed; i want op gems to be nerfed and not having to worry about casting cost with no drawback except 1 gem slot seems OP

its better than blood magic key stone , its better than mana leech , its way better than mana regen -> its overpowered , end of story

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its probably because you play a spectral throw build with bm support gem like everyone else does ...

i use BM support gem on my EK build with 3 auras aswell and i wouldnt be mad about a 15% cast speed nerf , since this combination is just too strong - the life sped instead of mana for spells on bloodmagic is no drawback if you regen it back almost instant

to buff bloodmagic keystone the only possibility would be to bring back non percentage based auras -

dont know if you read my post carefully or just saw "nerf" and turned mad but the problem is that you have 1-2 free auras by just using the gem instead of the passive node


- edit -

i dont want good gems to get nerfed; i want op gems to be nerfed and not having to worry about casting cost with no drawback except 1 gem slot seems OP

its better than blood magic key stone , its better than mana leech , its way better than mana regen -> its overpowered , end of story

I play a Rain of Arrows Scion running 4 auras with Alpha's Howl. Spectral Throw is easy to support without blood magic gem. Bow skills on the other hand, are ridiculously expensive, especially at ~6 attacks per second. I pay 500 life per second to use frenzy, and 440 life per second to use RoA, my regen is 180 HP/sec. Life Leech = mandatory.

Also my RoA Scion is using Frenzy with a BM gem, and my curses + totem are linked with BM too. That's 3 gems in my gear, and two gems being taken up in my two main attacks that could otherwise be damage gems.

I also still use BM keystone, currently playing a BM Freeze Pulser Scion in Nemesis. Why would I take the keystone and not just use a gem? Because that one gem slot is pretty god damned important, thats why. My Explosive Arrow Marauder also uses the BM keystone. Basically any build that doesn't absolutely need auras works well with the keystone.

You may say that a gem slot is not that big of a draw back, well not everyone has easy access to 5 links or 6 links, especially in the new leagues. There are a ton of builds that you can't use a BM gem without having a 5L, and a good many that suffer greatly unless you have a 6L (lightning arrow comes to mind). Also, keep in mind that if you're using blood magic gem, then LoH or Life Leech are absolutely mandatory thanks to the ~190% mana multiplier. So in reality that's two gem slots reserved to use BM gem.

Yeah, they screwed the BM keystone over with the aura change. I think you're barking up the wrong tree though. The answer is to fix how BM keystone works with auras, not nerf the only alternative you have left that lets you bypass mana.

Or make mana a more attractive option by buffing mana nodes or giving players more mana per level. The only reason the BM gem is so widely used is because getting enough mana to sustain a 5L ability is a huge investment in passive points.

What silliness. It isn't the BM gem that makes the keystone useless. It's the aura change. Basically, with the new trigger gem mechanics, you use those to cast some stuff for free (CwDT for defensive abilities), use BM gems + LoH/leech for main attacks, and then just reserve your mana pool along with using alpha's howl/reduced mana/notables to pile on 3-4 auras that completely consume your mana orb.

But if you went with the BM keystone, well, congratulations, you just forfeit all auras to do what--get one more gem slot for one technique?

This isn't about the BM gem--it's about the fact that the aura change made the BM keystone useless.

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IlyaK1986 wrote:

What silliness. It isn't the BM gem that makes the keystone useless. It's the aura change. Basically, with the new trigger gem mechanics, you use those to cast some stuff for free (CwDT for defensive abilities), use BM gems + LoH/leech for main attacks, and then just reserve your mana pool along with using alpha's howl/reduced mana/notables to pile on 3-4 auras that completely consume your mana orb.

But if you went with the BM keystone, well, congratulations, you just forfeit all auras to do what--get one more gem slot for one technique?

This isn't about the BM gem--it's about the fact that the aura change made the BM keystone useless.

it was always like that, however its pretty funny to manage 5 to 7 auras to take up most of the life bar

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soul4hdwn wrote:

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IlyaK1986 wrote:

What silliness. It isn't the BM gem that makes the keystone useless. It's the aura change. Basically, with the new trigger gem mechanics, you use those to cast some stuff for free (CwDT for defensive abilities), use BM gems + LoH/leech for main attacks, and then just reserve your mana pool along with using alpha's howl/reduced mana/notables to pile on 3-4 auras that completely consume your mana orb.

But if you went with the BM keystone, well, congratulations, you just forfeit all auras to do what--get one more gem slot for one technique?

This isn't about the BM gem--it's about the fact that the aura change made the BM keystone useless.

it was always like that, however its pretty funny to manage 5 to 7 auras to take up most of the life bar

Then you put this on...


And kill yourself with Blood Magic because you realized that you have no life or mana to cast spells.

Instead of providing the full Blood Magic bonus, this gem should convert a portion of the cost to life, while keeping the rest mana. The mana cost multiplier should remain constant, but the % converted should increase with gem level. For example: 200% cost multiplier, 60-79% converted to Life. This would keep the keystone's effect unique and special, while giving players a stronger alternative to Reduced Mana if they're willing to take on a life cost.

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ScrotieMcB wrote:

Instead of providing the full Blood Magic bonus, this gem should convert a portion of the cost to life, while keeping the rest mana. The mana cost multiplier should remain constant, but the % converted should increase with gem level. For example: 200% cost multiplier, 60-79% converted to Life. This would keep the keystone's effect unique and special, while giving players a stronger alternative to Reduced Mana if they're willing to take on a life cost.

And thus defeating the purpose of BM gems in the first place, which is to use your mana orb for auras, and your life orb for skills. Furthermore, the cost of the BM gem is implicit with needing to reserve a gem slot. Not such a big deal for those who are grindy/lucky enough to get good 6L gear, but for the rest of everyone, yeah, it's a big freaking deal.

Just wanted to put my few cents in for the new years.

As a BM Marauder, closing in on 90, I find it hard to resist shifting out of Blood Magic keystone. I sit around 11k dps without hatred. I will sit around the same dps plus the benefit of interchangeable and multiple auras (switching added fire/physical gem for BM gem).

I am not against the BM gem, but it does negate the BM keystone. I'm sure something will be done about it.

Schnupfndrache7 hit the point on the ball, clever analysis:

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this gem makes bloodmagic keystone pretty much useless!

to compare:

- bloodmagic gem
you use 2 auras (for example hatred + grace)
but you have to give up 1 socket for your main attack


- bloodmagic aura
you cant run auras
you save 1 socket (basiaclly you can use added fire which has about the same dps increase like hatred - but you dont have grace , if you grab 1 aura reservation circle you can also run purity/vitality for free)



in conclusion : the difference between these 2 is that you have 1-2 free auras when you use bloodmagic gem


the solution : add a draw back to bloodmagic gem (for example 30% reduced attackspeed / 15% cast speed)


maybe to buff bloodmagic keystone there should be a non percentage based aura again that you can run for free with BM

the mana multiplier is a considerable downside I think, its probably not sufficent to make the gem any less powerfull overall.
instead of nerfing the gem they could probably add more reduced mana reservation skills to blood magic the keystone.
like 3-4 additional nodes behind "mortal conviction" which would allow a blood magic user to run auras. the nodes could be 10%. or remove mortal conviction and instead add 4-5 nodes with 15% each, so you gotta invest some more points but can profit from auras without much sacrifice in life.

or even better: make it so that auras aren´t that good anymore! :D
if the game ends up in a buffing cycle we will probably have to deal with things we already saw in Diablo 2, crazy overpowered stuff.
when theres no need to use anything else than what everyone else is using, it kinda sux in the long term.
often enough drawbacks on unique items for example I feel are too easily compensated for, the drawback feels like an explanation, or an excuse like "hmm ok I made this awesome item, but I have to add a drawback ... ok so this ones significant, but on the build I plan to use with it, it doesnt even matter *crazy evil laughter*"

yeah I personally like blood magic, its easier to play with, makes my character more simple and makes me add more finesse in other areas, cause I dont have to worry about mana.
On other builds I often find myself coming back to those very simple chars, who use mana but have like only 2 attack skills and 2 supports, like decoy totem and such.
tbh I dont feel like BM needs a buff, the keystone, if anything they could add some decent lifenodes around the keystone, to make it easier for BM melee chars to stay in this area, as there are quite some good nodes and to make it more like CI, where there are these ES nodes right behind it.

This gem absolutely kills the BM keystone even though the BM keystone is not too bad. The gem allows 100% mana reservation and the increased cost was miniscule before the life buff. Yes it costs a slot and so does Mana Leech but mana leech requires a buffer of mana. Mana leech from gear costs no slot but requires a buffer of mana and requires giving up mods on gear. Mana regen does not cost a slot but but it requires a buffer of mana and generally requires EB which requires hybrid gear without the benefit of energy shield.

To break the monotony of this gem being overused I suggest the gem reduce attack/cast speed by 20% at all levels. The lowlife bonus could be adjusted accordingly or even give "more" speed if that part of the gem is under used.