SKILLS LOCKED TO WEAPON TYPES TOO HARD.

I noticed this while playing the Huntress this time, thinking about my time in PoE1. But the current gem system has very little deviation from sharing weapon types between classes. If a quarterstaff skill exists, its ONLY AVAILABLE TO QUARTERSTAFFS. Rolling slam has no reason he couldn't also be used with that and other two handed blunt weapons, or some of Huntress's stabbing or sweeping blade type skills not later being used with swords. Everything just seems hugely locked up compared to the first game's system.

Like I see zero reason why skills like Perfect Strike, Leap slam, Molten blast couldn't also be used with swords later, and it will feel very strange if they're absent.


If we take a look at PoE1 skill gems...

Heavy Strike: Mace, Sceptre, Axe, Sword, Staff

Molten Strike: Literally any melee weapon

Smite: Sword, Axe, Mace, Sceptre, Staff, Unarmed

Vigilant Strike: Anything

Swordstorm: Any dual wielded melee weapons


On one hand its nice to turn your brain off and follow an easy progression map of your class's skills without mixing your archetypes too much. You end up with a working build to the end of the campaign...great.

But even by picking the 'All skills/All gems button' apart from utility buffs or magic which aren't locked behind anything but stats, 100+ Weapon skills might as well read as "8 Options" I realize perhaps its too big brained for newer players to have the option of using a rare quarterstaff to rolling slam when they've previously only used a mace, but it ends up being hugely restrictive to the creativity that people liked in PoE1.

Finally I want to mention that the instant weapon swap letting you use multiple skills, while good, only doubles that 8 options to 16 and still means you'll have to put your points into multiple weapon passives to use them at all which makes builds too simple compared to having more generalist nodes.

I think that even when we have say, 20 skills for each weapon type in the final game, not letting any of them overlap between classes, or releasing new gems that specifically do cover multi classes is a mistake that will hinder creativity. I know the priority right now is just to get everything that's missing into the game already, but I hope GGG fixes that aspect.

I think an option to be able to use any weapon with any skill gem would be nice but you get a bonus if you use the "preferred" weapon

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BigBoom9240#8803 wrote:

I think an option to be able to use any weapon with any skill gem would be nice but you get a bonus if you use the "preferred" weapon

I think that's going too far, there are some skills that fundamentally have no place being used with that weapon type, but the ones that make sense. Like you can bash something with a heavy 2 handed sword, as well as a mace, but if its say EARTHQUAKE you'd dull the blade too much slamming it into the ground.

Skills that use sharp weapons or have a cutting theme should work with bladed weapons.