Friday 21 February 2014

Why can't all the 'no effect' legendaries be designed as well as Magefist?



In a few of the recent streams the developers have said that they:
  1. Would love for every legendary to have a unique effect but that this wasn't possible due to time constraints.
  2. Are happy with the current 'no effect' legendaries because they'll likely be an upgrade for players as they can roll higher property values.
The first point is understandable, however I take issue with the second point. There are a ton of 'no effect' legendaries that are out-right terrible for no good reason. Example:
Aquila Cuirass (lvl 60)
  • 220 main stat
  • 200 vit
  • 400 armor
  • 150 life regen
There is nothing legendary about this at all. None of the stats are rolling higher than normal (bug?), and even if they did it would not be competitive with a standard rare with int, vit, resist and most importantly 3 sockets (which is equivalent to 150+ all resist). The developers have stated that they 'mandatory socket' problem can be overcome with enchanting - which is ridiculous in the case. You would be expected to break down multiple legendaries just for a chance to make this 'legendary' comparable to a rare.
Compare that legendary with:
Magefist (lvl 60)
  • Fire skills deal 15-20% more damage
  • 300-500 main stat
  • Attack Speed Increased by 5-6%
  • 2 random primary properties
This is one of the most popular legendaries in the PTR/Beta. Why?
  • Property that is not available on other gear in this slot (% Fire skills)
  • Guaranteed high main stat roll (much higher than rares)
  • One guaranteed 'mandatory' roll for the slot (Attack Speed)
Basically, even if your 2 random primary properties are terrible this glove will be better than almost any rare if you're using a Fire skill. Developer time required to make this, excluding the art? Zero. All it requires is placing the pre-existing % Fire skills property onto a glove where it normally doesn't roll.
Now lets apply the same design logic to the Aquila Cuirass:
New Aquila Cuirass (lvl 60)
  • Reduces cooldown of all skills by 15%
  • 300-500 main stat
  • 2-3 sockets
  • 2 random primary properties
Instantly more interesting, and potentially a BiS item for players that are designing a cooldown based build.

Does anyone else find this as frustrating as I do? I'm still very much looking forward to RoS but it just feels like a lot of the legendaries have so much wasted potential for what amounts to very little developer time required.