d3 List of Patch 2.6.7 Issues

[Starym 3,800]

 

The Diablo 3 team got some feedback from Ulmaguest over on the official forums and replied to all the concerns. The Era will get re-reset after the balance patch before season start, Bazooka Wiz is still an issue but probably won't be addressed this patch/season and the Blighter mobs may get nerfed again. We also found out we'll be getting a blog with details on the GR cap and general game balance.

2.6.7 Issues (source)

1. This one’s important. Nerf Bazooka - You guys moved the timing around but the bug is still there. If you want to move the game away from speed 150’s you still have work to do on Wizard. The interaction between Archon and Starpact is clearly broken. I say that as someone who has played Wiz for several seasons in a row and used it extensively. It’s broken. We used it because you said it was OK for us to use. But we all knew it was too powerful. Either buff 2-3 other trash clearers to the same level or kill it. You don’t have a choice really.

2. Nerf Blighter / Thorns. Blighter is still busted on Thorn procs. No one wants to feel like they have to spawn this boss to get a good clear time.

3. Inter class balance, Barb / Monk is still undertuned compared to the rest (and I’m not talking about likely exploits you guys let slip to live, there’s a bug report already on Fjord Cutter for Barbs).

4. Reset the Era Leaderboard properly. You reset the LB then let everyone register clears to the new leaderboard using the old patch. I don’t have to tell you why that’s messed up.

5. Crusader doing 150 solo, 150 2 player, 150 3 player. If the goal is to move everyone to farm 150 in all game modes then ok. Otherwise this is clearly overtuned.

I mean no ill will with my post. Just want to point out that these issues are still here, and plaguing the game.

We, the community, always point this stuff out to you because we care. If you need help testing this stuff we’re always happy to help.

 

Whew, okay, let’s see if I can address these.

1. Bazooka - we definitely consider this an issue (as I’m sure you can see from our last change), but it’s proving trickier to address than we anticipated. While Bazooka is harder to execute now, we don’t like that a build more or less requires macros to use effectively. This is something we want to address, but it’s looking like that will be a longer term process beyond 2.6.7.
2. We did make a change to Blighter for this reason in 2.6.7. If this wasn’t enough, we’ll continue to re-evaluate.
3. We’ll be releasing a small balance patch between now and the start of Season 19 to address some of the balance concerns the community has brought to us. Still getting the final details on exactly what this entails. Stay tuned.
4. Because we’ll be releasing a small balance patch, we’ll be resetting the Era again. We’re just waiting for that to happen first. ?
5. See point #3. This is also one of our areas of concern. We don’t want to “nerf it to the ground,” but we do want to pull it back. If AoV continues to need adjustments afterwards in either direction, we’ll keep looking at it in the long run, too. Sometimes finding the right balance takes us a few tries, and we appreciate your patience with us while work to get things where they need to be.

I know it doesn’t always look like we listen or act immediately on feedback, and we can’t always act this fast; we’ve had a lot of conversations over the past couple of days regarding 2.6.7 and the areas where we could improve. Having a larger gap between patch and Season launch is serving us well in this regard.

Lastly, I want to mention I’m working with the development team on a blog that focuses on Greater Rift Level Cap and our philosophy/approach around game balance. I think there’s some context the community is missing in our approach, and we want to explain this better and more clearly—it’s just going to take some time for me to put that communication together. I’m not trying to be mysterious; I just want to make sure we’re taking the time necessary to make things clear.

 

Related Diablo 3 articles

• Balance Patch to Come Before Season 19 Start

• Official Season 19 Start Date: November 22nd

• Clarification on Season 19 Not Coming This Week

• Patch 2.6.7 and Season 19 Patch Notes + S19 Not Starting on Friday

• Lilith's Embrace Wings in Diablo III for Virtual Ticket Holders

• New Lamentation Barbarian Legendary Nerfed, Blizzard Responds

• Era Ending with Patch 2.6.7 + Season 19 Probable Start

[darkgreenwax 412]

I just wish they tweaked numbers so classes were actually close, and you can make a class choice based on your favorite flavor, not on if you want to "do well."

The barb is my all time favorite, but I know if I create a barb, I'm not getting anywhere near as far as a wizard or necro or other top class of the season.

I did the top tier wizard build last season and it was ridiculous how quickly I was melting high level greater rifts with less than optimal gear. But the gameplay was essentially numlocking my skill and mindlessly scroll-wheeling across the map. That is the gameplay that is best rewarded. Welp.

#savethebarbs

[Starym 3,800]

2 hours ago, TyZone said:

I just wish they tweaked numbers so classes were actually close, and you can make a class choice based on your favorite flavor, not on if you want to "do well."

The barb is my all time favorite, but I know if I create a barb, I'm not getting anywhere near as far as a wizard or necro or other top class of the season.

I did the top tier wizard build last season and it was ridiculous how quickly I was melting high level greater rifts with less than optimal gear. But the gameplay was essentially numlocking my skill and mindlessly scroll-wheeling across the map. That is the gameplay that is best rewarded. Welp.

#savethebarbs

While I understand what you mean and somewhat agree, I don't personally think there's a reason for all classes in RPGs to be the same power, unless playing in a group is critical to the game (which it isnt in D3). Why wouldn't you play barb? See how might you can push it in its current state. D2 and D1 were neeeeever balanced on any level whatsoever (to the point where you had to reroll a sorc if you didnt get some specific barb drops by the time you got half way through hell, so you could get some barb gear with sorc farming hell).

I think developers spend waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much time focusing on balance and it costs us better game mechanics and other upgrades (i'm not talking about d3 specifically) mostly due to the community crying over their favorite class being "weak". In an MMO like WoW that makes sense since if your class is weak you cant raid, M+ or PvP, but in an ARPG it's just... silly. The classes are close enough in d3 with the (shitty) GR system, as you're really not gaining any additional rewards for doing 5-10 better GRs (because those 1-2% additional bonuses from legendary gems really aren't that releveant).

[Yojiro 30]

3 hours ago, Starym said:

In an MMO like WoW that makes sense since if your class is weak you cant raid, M+ or PvP, but in an ARPG it's just... silly.

Even in an MMO it doesn't make that much sense, in fact it has lead to the complete homogenization of class design and very constrained raid boss design (which ironically further reinforces the problem).

Imagine how much more interesting playstyles/classes we could have if everything wasn't so laser-focused on individual performance (aka DPS numbers).

Synergy has been completely sacrificed on the altar of dps balance, I'm not going to claim classic does this much better but we could do with more things like enhancement shaman totem spammer rather than less.

[Yolo 40]

In all seriousness tho, i think they did that on purpose. Based on the queue times on ptr VS before s18, there were not nearly as many players testing things. (Either that, or blizz really upped their server park for ptr). Rather than making a new ptr build they decided to go live untested - and they were right, because more ppl will cry on an OP build than test said build in ptr... Some sader enthusiast say saders didnt were in focus for years... Condemn and LoD Blessed Shield: ám i joke to you? 

[darkgreenwax 412]

On 11/14/2019 at 4:23 PM, Starym said:

While I understand what you mean and somewhat agree, I don't personally think there's a reason for all classes in RPGs to be the same power, unless playing in a group is critical to the game (which it isnt in D3). Why wouldn't you play barb? See how might you can push it in its current state. D2 and D1 were neeeeever balanced on any level whatsoever (to the point where you had to reroll a sorc if you didnt get some specific barb drops by the time you got half way through hell, so you could get some barb gear with sorc farming hell).

I think developers spend waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much time focusing on balance and it costs us better game mechanics and other upgrades (i'm not talking about d3 specifically) mostly due to the community crying over their favorite class being "weak". In an MMO like WoW that makes sense since if your class is weak you cant raid, M+ or PvP, but in an ARPG it's just... silly. The classes are close enough in d3 with the (shitty) GR system, as you're really not gaining any additional rewards for doing 5-10 better GRs (because those 1-2% additional bonuses from legendary gems really aren't that releveant).

Definitely get what you're saying - when I looked back at my comment I laughed and thought "I'm a shaman."

With that said if they stopped obsessing over number tweaking to focus on mechanics, then what I would like to see is apples, oranges, pears, and plums in my game. What I mean is, if I play as a wizard, I would expect to do crazy damage, but be flimsy and delicate. If I play a barbarian, I expect to do less damage, but be able to wade through enemies unpunished until fatigue sets in for me. The problem I feel is they gave every class this "damage reduced by 50%" stuff, which makes nearly every class the same in terms of durability, then it comes down to who has the better mobility and damage. I'd be all for a barb, for instance, to not be able to kill as many things quickly in solo, but as compensation I'd also expect him to be less fragile. I think a lot of this was resulted from power creep and ridiculous 15,000% values and whatnot.