Path of Exile 3.16 Balance - Part 1 - Flasks and Ailment Mitigation

I really like these changes. Getting elemental ailment and maybe even poison and bleed immun seems really worth the investment now. On some classes and pantheon combinations even easy. Two minor "mehs" from me:

1. "New Keystone Passive Skill added to the center of the tree that causes intelligence to provide no inherent bonus to Energy Shield, but instead reduces elemental ailment duration on you."

Duration? Really? Make it avoidance or effect instead and people will pick it up even if it is quite weak numerically.

2. Utility flask curse mitigation. "Remove a curse on use (Level 8)"

So no preemptive use even though you stated above that this was the intended use? No immunity or reduced effect for some time? Quite weak vs Hexfont (Casts random curses about every half second) and useless vs map mods.

All the other changes sound really good and bring quite a lot of player power with them. Life flasks recovering twice as fast sounds very strong.
Buffing the "surgeon's" mod (chance to gain a Flask Charge when you deal a Critical Strike) or the "of Acceleration" (increased Attack Speed during Flask effect) mod even seem a bit too strong to me.

First, you removed ailment immunities from flasks because you wanted flasks to be used at specific times rather than as permanent buffs (which was, IMO, a perfectly reasonable strategy) but forgot to add new sources of ailment immunities.

Now, you're adding new sources of immunities but also bring back immunities on flasks as well as new modifiers in support of perma-flasks.

That doesn't make any sense to me.

On top of that, we will be able to craft perma-flasks with immunities again except that it will be much harder than before because we will need high item-level and, I suppose, we won't be able to beast-craft the new mods. That really sucks.

You've got to take a decision at some point. Either remove immunities on flasks for good or roll flasks back to what they were in 3.14.

Alright so...

You basically fucked flasks in 3.15.. and then somewhat revert it on the same week launch..

Just to change it to somewhat what it was back in 3.13-3.14?

Why not just go back to the old way and move on? feels like selling the "solution" as hype when your decisions created the problem in the first place..

Weird, I have to see this realistic way and not just jump on the hype train like 99.9% of here and 100% on reddit.

Maybe I am missing something, but this seems to me to be missing the point entirely. None of the issues are actually being fixed here, just creating opportunities for many more issues.

Hopefully it all ties in better with some of the other changes you are planning because as it is presented currently this will not work.

Instead of rolling back the ailment numbers to what they used to be and you considered to be over powered... keep them the same and allow them to be crafted on more than two items.

Ailment immunity is still a large opportunity cost and is ignored by the majority of the player base anyway.

I just want to write to thank you for actually listening to the community now and start implementing more tools for players to play the game. POE is about learning the game, leveraging all tools you know and you like to make fun builds, and do things you most enjoy in the game. I now have a large hope that we can achieve this again in 3.16. Making the game harder by taking tools away from players is never a good design. Hope it won't ever happen again in POE.

It would have been ideal if you switch the order of 3.15 and 3.16. Well I guess, if you didn't get 3.15 you won't actually work hard on 3.16? Maybe not? I hope not.

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Dirtynecro wrote:

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MyBallsOnYaChin wrote:

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Dirtynecro wrote:

Throw Tempest Shield on the garbage pile with Flesh and Stone, useless.

What? Are you crazy? The most used auras in Hardcore.

You must be the crazy one if you think that increasing Flesh and Stone to 35% mana reservation didn't kill it for most builds, & now they are going to wreck Tempest Shield with a mana reservation too. I don't play hardcore, but I understand why you would need the damage mitigation from F&S + the block from TS; good luck trying to fit it all into your future builds.

Even just playing in League I used both skills frequently before the changes.

I do wanna point out one thing - if TS reserves only 10% mana, it fits perfectly (at least for me) to the petrified blood structure because I usually only find clarity and vitality worthwhile reserving on the life side. Now with the reservation it is basically free because I need that 10% to trigger low life faster anyways.

Also the FS situation is different from TS. You mainly need only blind, and it's just that people find 35% mana too expensive for a blind so people ditch FS. There might be other changes that affect this too, such as buff to underused solo-play auras, change to mana usage again, addition of new defensive tools, etc. But TS is all about stacking block chance, and you will always pick it as long as you don't have to sacrifice too much.

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Hell1986 wrote:

2. Utility flask curse mitigation. "Remove a curse on use (Level 8)"

So no preemptive use even though you stated above that this was the intended use? No immunity or reduced effect for some time? Quite weak vs Hexfont (Casts random curses about every half second) and useless vs map mods.

They made it just for acts that's why it's requirement is level 8.
For maps you'll need to roll "60-65% Reduced Effect of Curses on you during Flask effect (Level 84)" or a lower tier one + take some reduced effect on gear/pantheon or from consecrated ground.

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DiabloImmoral wrote:

No Divine Vessel drops required ever! You can fill your pantheon on every character with ease.

Thank you!

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Kulthanel wrote:

Alright so...

You basically fucked flasks in 3.15.. and then somewhat revert it on the same week launch..

Just to change it to somewhat what it was back in 3.13-3.14?

Why not just go back to the old way and move on? feels like selling the "solution" as hype when your decisions created the problem in the first place..

Weird, I have to see this realistic way and not just jump on the hype train like 99.9% of here and 100% on reddit.

That!
GGG creates the problem than come with "solutions" and people go nuts on the hypetrain...
So much "balance" around flasks means big nerfs on Defenses and buffs on monsters damage... brace yourselves for more crying about "out of screen OHKOs"

This game is becoming dumber and dumber over time... SSF has no place. Better play to make currency and buy mid-end Builds in trade league.

You just don't understand why many who left decided to do so. There are many options for gaming moreso now then when the POE launched. Radically changing systems without assessing them for unintended side affects, nerfing abilities, and generally tinkering with longstanding game systems, without addressing QoL problems. All this shows is the development team is out of ideas and has lost the spark of ingenuity that once drove the games success. I understand trying to reign in stat inflation, especially as newer and newer league mechanics create issues in this department, but these mechanics are often nerfed multiple times when brought to standard gameplay. I think what I am trying to say is "You need to re-evaluate your internal processes to better align with your stated goals before you end up nerfing more than skills in a game, and up risking the life of your very game".

I am now at a stage where I keep up yo date on the changes to POE, but do not log on often or for long. You have KILLED the fun I used to have playing. As well with the release of New World, I rather Enjoy it moreso then I do POE in its current state. So I do say good luck to your team, alas the current direction they have chosen to move in precludes my involvement or support.

Goodbye