Phrecia (idols) and Gambler feedback

got to lvl 95 (and lvl 60 with a new char), got waystones, made some divs, its time for feedback

The Good:

- idols make T1-T10 maps interesting
- idols, including uniques, drop reliably and frequently - it is realistic to amass 1 or even 2 tailor-made setups just from drops on your first character before you complete your atlas
- gold prices reduction for early citi upgrades is great. getting rid of ore upgrades - even better

The Bad:

- Einhar everywhere. bestiary in general aged poorly and should go. 99% of beasts are useless (not worthless, useless) and the usable ones are rare AF. the UI of this mechanic is tragic and full of useless garbage while missing simple info like 'what beasts i just got.. and i do not mean the name, i mean the TYPE'
- abundance of relics made them (mostly) very cheap. but people dont do cheap trades. so getting a 5-10 relic is often far more unpleasant than 1div one.
- buying blue relics is pretty much nightmare of unanswered whispers
- selling - just as well. i respond to trade to be ghosted (buyer most likely msg'ed 15 people and i happened to be 2seconds too slow)
- inventory micromanagement is.. just bad

- and the usual of league mechanic A is 10 times better than B. but this is inherent to the game and at this point there is 0 chance of change

- wording and basic text QoL of idol mods. all 'mechanics' should have a searchable key word used to filter them. right now idol's mods are grouped in 'advanced description' (press alt). i found it funny that abyss mod with 'pits spawn magic' (or similar) did not have a word abyss in its name.. using search for a new mechanic on a trade website sucks. i know they told us no QoL but this is actual negative QoL.


The Gambler

Ascendancy people ignored picking stuff like Manaforged Arrows with Indigon for their starters. I bet most of people who have fallen into that trap still are collecting money for an Indigon :)



this is garbage gear, only weapon was worth anything (1div i think), everything else is self-found or in 10-50c range

the build plan is simple: you get to 57, you stop dying. that mod 'treated as 90%' is much stronger than people think. MUCH stronger. it completely negates curses, exposure and various map mods. only Pen works as usual, but it pens 90% not 75%ish. Ive never been so tanky vs elemental damage on so little budget. i can stand in T16, let myself be surrounded and.. nothing happens.

(does not apply to DoTs, these hurt like always)

people are - rightfully - attracted to 'inverted enemy resistance' but they completely misunderstand just how amazing the travel node is. ofc it fixes your shield slot but.. that shield isnt even half bad

50% stun/ailment avoidance on a starter is great, you pick as first and leveling gets FAR easier.

all this ascendancy misses is straight crazines - shrines, ghosts, 12% crit - no, you wont find it here. but defences are HIGHLY underrated and comfort of not really needing resists (except fire for burning ground) for early maps cannot be overstated.

imho - excluding 'spawn wolves' and similar generic 'skip leveling' setups this class is simply amazing for SSF and starter character. .4% representation is very, very strange. there is no denying decked out scavenger will out-damage Gambler - the journey there wont be as easy, esp tank-wise. i actually wonder why would anyone pick stuff like MFA or fishing rod for their starter when the gear to get it from the ground is expensive and/or time consuming to get. but oh well

Gambler

8/10
pros:
- tanky, incredibly tanky with Kiloava Bluster
- easy and cheap ailment immunity
- good damage with elemental skill, esp if paired with altars giving +80% to a given resistance
cons:
- poor support for phys damage
- negative support for DoT damage
- crit/damage lucky/unlucky is finnicky and realistic use scenarios are all very weird

would play again. and Volcanic Fissure of Snaking with LARGE aoe (hello slams) shotguns like crazy for nice damage

would play again but honestly - no idols, trading experience made me stay /dnd pretty much all the time