Atlas Changes in 3.10.0

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If there are any other problematic mods other than ailments, please let us know and we'll look at those too.

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Rarely do I chime in, but today's the day.

First off, I don't know where you got your data/feedback from, but I really enjoyed the Awakening map bonus +1; and to me personally, it was really fun increasing my map drop rate despite what you say in your "Development Manifesto." I also really enjoy the new Atlas rework and the watchstones themselves, as-well as the conqueror fights. At the current moment, they feel exceptionally fresh, fun, and lucratively rewarding (Awakened Support Skill Gems).


Now lets discuss mods and other problematic game mechanics.

I've played for over seven years since the dawn of POE, I've lived through the "Phylacteral Link" days when it was a basic bloodline mod (now relegated to the Crystal Ore map boss), and I would say at this stage of the game that reflect mods are counter-intuitive, clunky, and downright unnecessarily aggravating to the majority of your playerbase.

There isn't a solid case to be made that reflect mods encourage player ingenuity or pragmatic counter-play, they exist solely to serve as a barrier to the uninitiated, and a minor (or major) annoyance to those well-versed in the myriad ruleset of the game. Unless you're running straight up immunity on a Slayer (Headsman), or your build is built for reflect maps, it's impossible to overcome. I shouldn't insta-rip on a low tier blue map at lvl 96 because my buddy I'm helping out forgot to check for a phys reflect mod on the map before he placed it in the map device. All these insta-gib mods do is cause your veteran players to become unnecessarily OCD and scan over all of the mods on a map with a fine-tooth comb before running them instead of slamming-and-go; but this is the current reality of the situation, and unlikely to change unless a strong chorus of voices object to such an inane game mechanic.

Corpse-explosion/detonate dead is another monster skill I would like to see reworked or removed entirely. Quite frequently, I painstakingly Id each strongbox so I don't get 'million dps'd one-shot'; but when I'm playing with inexperienced players, they will always click those strongboxes without hesitation, and without Id'ing them, which again, causes unnecessary levels of OCD amongst your player base. We should be able to "outplay" certain content without specific builds (corpse clearing or full reflect counters) there should always be a path to victory, no matter how small, instead of entirely hopeless if you roll the dice wrong. These are my chief complaints about corpse-explosion/detonate dead inside maps, and reflect mods attached to the maps themselves through modifications.

You simply have a sextant mod which allows you to take no reflected damage, play Slayer (Headsman), or run a build built around countering reflect; otherwise, you don't run the map at all.

I fully agree that reflect mods are unintuitive. Everything that you posted makes sense and I support removing reflect and corpse detonation from random encounters.
Also some bosses have random self-cast reflect that you cannot work against. It has no obvious trigger. please improve on this, ggg.
Thank you!

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phantomleader1st wrote:

First, Thanks for the response GGG. That did answer a lot of questions, but a few were left out.

Standard League:

1. Will we have to regrind all of our watchstones again or will they work like shaper's orbs used to?

2. Will we have to regrind all of our awakening levels again, or will they be completed by running a map of 1 Tier higher (like the bonus objectives)?

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6_din_49 wrote:

Are we going to be able to use Shaper/Elder scarabs in conquerors influenced maps? (run double-influenced maps)

Any plans to make these scarabs more useful?

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Geistermeister36 wrote:

Willfull and intentional misunderstanding of what the problem with Temple and Delve Cities is, complete denial of people who have correctly set-up atlases and not completed every map being far more efficient and once again hating on player having access to content.

People had T14s left ? Oh no i thought that was the ENTIRE POINT of the damn new atlas system where you aim for your atlas giving you as many T16s as possible and you run T15s if you dont have T16s anymore but can ignore anything below.

Once again GGG intentionally misinforms people, hates people having access to content instead of admitting that their maps are just way too easy and makes dumb decisions.