Melee vs Ranged Differences

It's actually insane how different the game is for these two.
I'll lay it out so you see where I'm coming from, I have 3 characters atm

Ice Strike, Hollow Palm Monk

Minion Infernalist

and my latest

Galvanic Shards Witch Hunter


Going from Ice Strike Monk to Galvanic Shards Witch Hunter is insane, there are so many stark differences that it really isn't even the same game

For example, on Monk I had to constantly always update my gear, always dance around combat because I'd get swarmed and stun locked and in some cases I just flat out couldn't do much damage because of area denial (trail of fire, AoEs, descrated ground etc;) that would be a death sentence if I fought in so I'd dance around and wait until it disappears doing virtually no damage in that time

Meanwhile Galvanic Shards Merc, all I do is run around a map "Oh a pack running towards me?" I left click my Galvanic Shards once and continue on my way uninhibited.

Whenever I get to a boss, mechanics? I don't even need to see them, it becomes targettable and it is dead within 10 seconds from my Shockburst rounds.

I don't even have to pay attention to any AoE abilities or area effects because everything is dead before it gets to me, I don't have to pay attention to getting swarmed or stun locked. Nothing!

It's so stark it's crazy, I'd understand if melee had some innate advantages but it has nothing!

Playing melee feels like digging a hole in the mud with your bare hands, and Merc feels like I have a drill just doing it for me.

I didn't even have to upgrade my gear beyond level 16 until Act 4. I'm yet to get to endgame with Merc, but I imagine it's just more of this, where I just see an entire pack and one shot it before it even does anything to me.

Both were fun though, the monk and the merc are both fun, just I wish melee had more going for it so it was the same level as the merc.

And well, minion Infernalist is... a minion build so I just let them do whatever they do and look at the pretty colours on the screen.

In every game melee is more difficult because you have to stand in melee distance.
This is why i like melee.

You can have as many DPS as you want you'll stil have to stand in the AOE, burning ground and what not. And need to tank hits from monsters.

It make that you need to dodge and kite a lot wich for me is the fun in playing a monk specificly. That's the advantage i get out of it.

I understand it feel frustrating for some people but i do believe it's about the same in every game. Melee is the hardest combat style because of being close to the danger all the time. It cannot really be changed because it's the essence of it.

One thing i'm afraid is that they make shadow (dagger) a projectile class instead of a nasty close range melee class.
If GGG pass here =)

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BlastYa#4875 wrote:

In every game melee is more difficult because you have to stand in melee distance.
This is why i like melee.

You can have as many DPS as you want you'll stil have to stand in the AOE, burning ground and what not. And need to tank hits from monsters.

It make that you need to dodge and kite a lot wich for me is the fun in playing a monk specificly. That's the advantage i get out of it.

I understand it feel frustrating for some people but i do believe it's about the same in every game. Melee is the hardest combat style because of being close to the danger all the time. It cannot really be changed because it's the essence of it.

Don't get me wrong I enjoy melee too, and I understand the innate danger of being in melee - but in most other games melee classes offset this a bit by typically being a bit more durable, or having innate resistances, no such thing exists here

Defensively I'm no different from a sorcerer/witch/merc - despite having to put myself in far more dangerous situations

And I do get this also largely stems from the sheer variety of builds available in PoE2 - with more to come, but almost all melee builds are not even in the same level in terms of power to any of the ranged classes.

It seems like for the sake of playing melee, just because you enjoy the aesthetic of it or the feel of it, you have to sacrifice damage, safety and clear speed. And you get no benefit out of that decision except "it looks cool".

Essentially, I want melee to be cool and powerful. Like the other classes.
Playing Merc has also made me realise it's probably the best designed class in the game right now.

Warrior probably feel better for that now with the new armour system.
I just dont enjoy it much because it slow you down a lot.
I think swords will be in a nice spot for that aspect.

I like fast gameplay wich is why i like playing knife in other games or monk here.

I tryed spear, still gonna play that one a bit more, but i dont find a good way to scale the direct melee skills and end up just using twister for mapping so it's a bit meh. ( a bit meh for the feeling of melee, it's amazing for clearing lol)

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TheMoobile#9008 wrote:

It seems like for the sake of playing melee, just because you enjoy the aesthetic of it or the feel of it, you have to sacrifice damage, safety and clear speed. And you get no benefit out of that decision except "it looks cool".

Yeah that's what i mean with the twister exemple. The damage scalling for some skills is weird and not as straight forward.
Sometimes i put point in my skill tree and i loose DPS on my melee abilities with the spear and i have no clue why lol

But i know i'm not the smartest at the game and i've seen some crazy DPS monk/warrior one shotting pinnacle so i guess there is that.

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BlastYa#4875 wrote:

Warrior probably feel better for that now with the new armour system.
I just dont enjoy it much because it slow you down a lot.
I think swords will be in a nice spot for that aspect.

I like fast gameplay wich is why i like playing knife in other games or monk here.

I tryed spear, still gonna play that one a bit more, but i dont find a good way to scale the direct melee skills and end up just using twister for mapping so it's a bit meh. ( a bit meh for the feeling of melee, it's amazing for clearing lol)

Yeah, perhaps it's a bit too soon for judgement, especially given the lack of melee classes - you have monk and warrior really, maybe when swords or daggers are added it will remedy some of that feeling. But also, I think we should address melee issues BEFORE those classes are implemented.

Because it would absolutely suck if these classes drop, people try them out and experience the same issues that warrior and monk players already feel it would just mire the release of any new class.

Might be why they take longer to release them. It's prob harder to balance than projectile/caster classes.

Cant wait for them tough =)

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BlastYa#4875 wrote:

Might be why they take longer to release them. It's prob harder to balance than projectile/caster classes.

Cant wait for them tough =)

Same, I'm a huge fan of the classic sword and shield style but also I love 2H greatswords.

So they'll absolutely be mains for me the moment they drop! I just hope we get a good spin-to-win build as well.