coop balance...ramblings?

Hey,

I'm finding that when I play with my friend in coop the challenge is SIGNIFICANTLY harder than when I play with that same character solo. I have no metrics to give It just seems like killing the bosses take 3 to 5 times longer if it's even possible for us. It very well could be a "skill" issue as folks like to taunt, but if that's true it is not for lack of trying nor is it mindset. Been gaming for 40yrs and i've always been up mentally for a challenge.

It is a very unforgiving game solo, especially how it seems like most every boss fight is a close quarters death match with little room to maneuver which places a high weight on decision making speed and pattern recognition. I can't say this is my favorite, as i'm slower than I used to be, but I can deal with it as over-levelling by about 2 to 3 levels and looking for top level gear replacements has allowed me to overcome my problems in solo, so there is something within my control there at least.

But add 1 person into the group with the exact same fights, skills, level and gear and it all goes to crap. The only exceptions are the bosses you can mostly kite and never have to face their one-shot kill moves or combos. Even my friend and I can do those they just take a lot longer than solo.

But for the others, Bosses do not die quickly enough letting lots of more attacks land over time each of which seem to be more damaging than solo? Most of our deaths come from running out of potion sips rather than one-shots. Also, the smaller arenas increase the difficulty drastically for coop when the boss targets an ally to drop a ground effect then turns on you. It is very easy to caught in a situation where you have to dodge into his ground AE to avoid his attack on you. Whereas solo you can bait him to throw crap in certain areas or directions to leave you a way out. This is horrible when the area is so small there are only inches separating you from massive overhand ae hits that will damn near oneshot you. You have to take the lesser of two evils dodge into damage that you can survive and take a sip. But without bunches of smaller guys to kill and renew those sips you are left with a .1 regen at best in these early levels placing every fight effectively on a timer.

Also add in that coop players collide and it makes boss fights in small areas even harder due to having to keep an eye on the ally in addition to the boss and adds. So coop equals more difficulty dynamics and higher boss scaling...not sure what the reward is but i'm guessing higher loot table? It's something negligible enough not to notice vs. the risk and increased difficulty.

Not sure, but I get destroyed in coop on fights I can win consistently in solo due to all these factors. Is it possible the damage resists or hp scaling on bosses for coop is too high? Or maybe coop players should not collide when running around or maybe add a few inches of breathing room to the arena size? Possibly reduce the ally resurrect timer or if you get interrupted make a much slower progress decay timer so you can run away dodge then come back and build on the progress?

Oh, I will add one point of complaint on that damn Rathbreaker fight in act 2. This is already probably the second most tiny fighting area that i've encountered as most of the edges are a death zone. It is very unkind to have those little lips on the ramp up on the right and left side. For those of us who do not have Pinpoint mouse accuracy it is way, way to easy to accidentally click a fraction off up there when trying to run around and accidentally click the ramp which forces your character to run straight up into the gauntlet of deadly spear throws and then down the ramp to where you clicked, making it so that if you can't correct in time then not only do you die but you can't even be revived due to the ally having to be in range of the death spears to begin the res.