You have turned the Epitome of Melee Strength Stacking into a Projectile archetype...

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Skutz123#5377 wrote:

There is no melee in this game, never was, and there likely never will be. The 0.5 announcements make it look like they're not focused much on fundamental issues plaguing the gameplay design and it's doubtful that even if swords, axes, flails, or daggers are put into the game at some point in the years ahead that they'll be anything other than functionally projectile weapons.

Oneshot screen wipe zoom zoom game play is here to stay apparently. The gameplay formula is basically hit X minimum damage, covering Y amount of area per Z seconds to keep up with mob spawn rate = win.

Close up melee combat with limited area of effect does not work for this, and so what we see is melee attacks like stormwave that are just projectile attacks with different graphics, or zipping around with staggering palm etc which is really just an AoE spell that potentially puts you into a bad spot.

If/when we see swords etc. they'll probably just have spark like screen spam skills that create 10 copies of your sword magically circling around you 20 feet out mindlessly weed whacking everything in your path.

I guess you can slap on a Headhunter and spam any of the inferior true melee attack skills and still beat the game and call it a day if that feels like fun somehow.

Good point. I guess asking why there's virtually no real melee skills is in the same boat as asking why it's nearly impossible to be a character who doesn't use magic. No lightning, fire, or freezing. Just a dude who stabs things. Or beats them with a club, or shoots them with crossbow bolts.

First time I played a Mercenary I laughed when it told me I didn't have enough magic power to... reload my crossbow. Ffs. Even swinging a club hard takes magic power these days. Everyone is a mage and everything is a spell.

Melee caster has got to be the dumbest play style imaginable. It trivializes the entire concept of melee. I hate it.

At what point is a melee attack no longer "melee"? When it hits enemies 2 character lengths away, what about 3-4? Is it only melee when it kills enemies right in front of you? What if it causes a chain reaction that clears the entire screen? Is it about feedback and animation recovery? Does it really just come down to flashy animations and limited utility?

A Reaping Staff's Reap skill is the most melee coded function in the game. A single, large, horizontal arc but no "melee enjoyer" would consider using it or building around it because "eww mages". It is capable of hitting an excessive area of effect and clearing screens with the right build. But that pure simplicity isn't even what melee enjoyers want. If it was then we wouldn't be here for who knows how many nth times reading a "melee sucks!" post.

This dissonance between what you want and what you claim you want has to break at some point. You want a pure melee struggle bus class that is as damaging as the best lightning arrow build while having the flashiest close range animations and visceral feedback,at the same time not killing things too fast because of course you need to let enemy attacks bounce off your shield or be parried because you're just an ethical guy like that, and with the cherry on top being its fantastic clear speeds.

Ahh oh wait, projectile/ranged/magic bad and is a failure of the game design. Because why would you need vary your attack options in a well designed game?

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Cicsero#2961 wrote:

At what point is a melee attack no longer "melee"? When it hits enemies 2 character lengths away, what about 3-4? Is it only melee when it kills enemies right in front of you? What if it causes a chain reaction that clears the entire screen? Is it about feedback and animation recovery? Does it really just come down to flashy animations and limited utility?

A Reaping Staff's Reap skill is the most melee coded function in the game. A single, large, horizontal arc but no "melee enjoyer" would consider using it or building around it because "eww mages". It is capable of hitting an excessive area of effect and clearing screens with the right build. But that pure simplicity isn't even what melee enjoyers want. If it was then we wouldn't be here for who knows how many nth times reading a "melee sucks!" post.

This dissonance between what you want and what you claim you want has to break at some point. You want a pure melee struggle bus class that is as damaging as the best lightning arrow build while having the flashiest close range animations and visceral feedback,at the same time not killing things too fast because of course you need to let enemy attacks bounce off your shield or be parried because you're just an ethical guy like that, and with the cherry on top being its fantastic clear speeds.

Ahh oh wait, projectile/ranged/magic bad and is a failure of the game design. Because why would you need vary your attack options in a well designed game?

Unclear who you're responding to, but I think you're missing the general point anyway. Traditional melee isn't and won't be viable in PoE2 without a complete game redesign that clearly isn't coming, so it doesn't really matter what they do with future melee in name only weapons.

Dunno about the OP, but to me but melee means attacking pretty much no further than the martial weapons length. For that to work in PoE2 there would need to be far fewer mobs (presumably beefed up and tougher individually), and some sort of trade off in the risk/reward for getting up close, presumably into a more vulnerable position, versus the safety of attacking from range. Normally that trade-off for balance sake would be either higher damage, higher defenses, faster attack speed. or something...but again, PoE2 just isn't built for that.

That's actually ok, as long as no one pretends like what this game has now is functional melee weapons/skills. It makes the clamoring for swords, axes, etc. all the more comedic. It wouldn't have changed or helped the game one bit if they had added them in 0.5 without overhauling the gameplay.

I'll admit I'm a bit puzzled by the 'eww mages' part of your commentary. You know I think most people like to actually try out both ranged and melee builds in RPG type games. I think its even more fun when you have to build for both in the same character. Did I miss where someone said " projectile/ranged/magic bad"? Or was that some sorta of projection?

Anyway, this game doesn't really have real and functional melee classes or abilities, so it's understandable people feel duped or upset with the current state of skills/weapons that are labeled "Melee".

"PROJECTILE"





(zoom: https://i.imgur.com/hLXjPTB.jpeg)


(zoom: https://i.imgur.com/1jMjoVJ.jpeg)



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