Archmage is NOT the Problem

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Mordgier#6997 wrote:

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drallcom3#6603 wrote:

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Nerim#4690 wrote:

Archmage is NOT the problem.

It's A problem though. Archmage + MoM + Stormweaver + plenty of passive nodes gives you everything with just one cheap stat.
Skill levels are a separate thing, affecting every build equally. Actually Archmage helps here too, because the cost scales together with the damage, making skills very expensive to use.

Archmage is still a no brainer, even for non-Stormweavers.

Well yeah - it's a no brainer because it's THE ONLY way to scale spell dps besides spell levels.

There are no other options, crit sort of works but nowhere near as strong.

If you want to scale spell DPS, you HAVE to use Archmage.

If I turn it off, it is not possible for me to handle end game content - the DPS just isn't there despite heavy investment into shock magnitude and % damage.


If Archmage did not exist, Stormweaver would not be end game viable without sinking hundreds of divines into the build via jewels, high roll ingenuity, temporalis etc.

They need to hard nerf Archmage.

AND hard nerf monsters in endgame at the same time.

Anything else will just feel incomplete/band-aid

I didn't even know that Archmage existed, and could see that there was a problem with how much free candy the Int builds were being given. MoM, Battery, CI, Pure Power, Force of Will. You're given lots of incentive to go all in on mana and mana accessories, and are given easy access to the tools that let it replace or influence literally everything you want to do.

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Snorkle_uk#0761 wrote:

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you can watch their streams and clearly see they dont get more currency or better rng than a normal player....

exept steelmage ... hahaha

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Sutopia#6937 wrote:

Problem is obviously MOM.

Anything that can scale both attack and defense is going to be blatantly OP period.

MoM doesn't scale attack

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MoM doesn't scale attack

No. Mana scales both attack and defence. MoM is the other half of the equation.

If your saying archmage isnt overtuned then your either coping hoping to not get nerfed or your completetly oblivious to how the game works

Archmage itself is not hugely overtuned but it definitely gets out of hand with other existing combinations, specifically MoM + CI + EB + Everlasting Gaze + Ghost Writhe interaction. It was probably designed not having 3-4k mana pools in mind. Since conversion rules are same as poe1 and massive mana pools were also a thing I'd say Archmage should be cut there to balance things out.

OP is completely wrong on +spell level, there's nothing else to get base spell damage unlike +attack damage mods. Have been so in poe1 and seems reasonable and intuitive enough.

Also since Archmage doesn't benefit channeling spells for some reason, I think there should be some option for scaling them as well

Sure, Archmage isn’t the problem, but when you’re struggling to manage your loot, every skill feels underwhelming. The real issue is the constant mess of useless drops that distract you from the actual gameplay. Loot filter, anyone?

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Bulletstormer#5968 wrote:

Archmage itself is not hugely overtuned but it definitely gets out of hand with other existing combinations, specifically MoM + CI + EB + Everlasting Gaze + Ghost Writhe interaction. It was probably designed not having 3-4k mana pools in mind. Since conversion rules are same as poe1 and massive mana pools were also a thing I'd say Archmage should be cut there to balance things out.

OP is completely wrong on +spell level, there's nothing else to get base spell damage unlike +attack damage mods. Have been so in poe1 and seems reasonable and intuitive enough.

Also since Archmage doesn't benefit channeling spells for some reason, I think there should be some option for scaling them as well

If a aura is so strong that every single build within that archetype needs to use it then its overpowered.

If your playing a caster that can benefit from archmage and your not using it, then your build is terrible. Even without investing in mana it automamticly doubles your damage, its uncomparable to any other aura you can use.

Thats how you quickly identify if something is overtuned, when its so strong that there are no alternatives.

Actual decent post OP, pleasantly surprised coming from reddit.

Whether Archmage needs a separate nerf is up for debate - probably yes and by like 90%, but for now i really dont care.

But you're completely right that +levels being this available is dumb. I also pretty much agree with your solution (make sources of +levels scarce)

I actually played a pretty min-maxed LL cold DoT occultist in PoE1 (before GGG trash canned Vortex), and it took two mirrors in gear and use of all kinds of expensive crafting to get the skill gem to level 30. And also there were enough damage multipliers in the game to have whatever other damage support i used to outscale +3 levels from empower 4.

In PoE2 my current character gets +14 (FOURTEEN) to all melee gems for 2ex (double +7 maces on weapon swap), another 4 off two gear rolls (amulet and gloves) which arent even rare. And finally another up to three from Prism Of Belief.

lol

I'm also pretty sure GGG is aware of this, they just have more important stuff to fix than endgame balance in EA.