So I'm "beta testing" this game, why is it sometimes just easier to delete and restart rather than respec skills? If I pick some bad or buggy skills, I can't just respec immediately, I have to keep playing a broken build until the points come back to me. That seems really dumb and bad for feedback.
External link →The correct reasons have already been posted a few times but I just wanted to make sure it's clear.
The primary goal of late stage early access is to prepare the game for launch. This means getting the game as close to launch state as possible then focusing on bug fixing until we hit launch day.
We believe that the skill respec system provides a very low, non-zero amount of respec friction. We are very happy with how this system functions. The feedback we get on this system shows that most of our current player base broadly shares these opinions.
We are very interested in feedback on the system from a 1.0 and beyond perspective. It will not be changed pre-launch. We do not plan to change it for launch. Anything can happen after that but I don't want to get your hopes up so I'll say that it would require a huge shift in the internal design philosophy to adopt a D3 style respec system.
Edit: let's go easy on the downvoting party people, nothing wrong with asking questions and giving feedback.
The primary goal of late stage early access is to prepare the game for launch. This means getting the game as close to launch state as possible then focusing on bug fixing until we hit launch day.
Maybe its too late to change it now, but I suspect this respec system has been in place for a long time.
We believe that the skill respec system provides a very low, non-zero amount of respec friction.
Try starting a new characters, level up to the point where you reach a leaf on the skill tree, realize you've made a terrible mistake. Unspec everything and try to build back, it can be so tedious you just give up. I can't imagine you are getting quality feedback if everybody is so afraid of bricking their builds and therefor not trying anything new. And if you are so sure this system is optimal, why doesn't it also apply to passives?
It has been in place for a long time. We have made many adjustments to it based on feedback we have received. I have started many characters and respecced the skills at many points throughout the leveling and end game process. There are mechanics in place that cause you to never fully brick and to catch up quick. I actually will encourage new players to do this intentionally from time to time.
A few tips, you have a minimum skill level so you don't go back to 1. Severely under leveled skills have a xp boost and high leveled skills have a massive XP penalty so even if you have 2 skills at level 10 and respec one of them, it will be almost immediately functional and then fully caught up in not very long at all.
I'm not sure I would go so far as to say that it's optimal really. Given the options we have experimented with, discussions we've had and the feedback we've received, I think it's the best option we can deliver and I'm very pleased with it and have no intentions of changing it but who knows what ideas we will be discussing in the future.
As for why it's not applied to passives too is just that it doesn't work very well in the passives. Your total passive points are tied to your character level and getting a character level up reward taken away has a more intense reaction. Also, you can only do those in town.
I think we frequently define the character by the primary damage skill it is using. So you might make a meteor sorc or a lightning blast sorc. So we want you to be a little invested in that decision.
I just grabbed my lvl 24 sorc. Using gear that is way better than any casual would have, it took me 2.5 hours to respec from Lightning Blast to Fire Bolt (level 9)
As a "beta" tester, there is no way I would have devoted any time to trying out different builds (at least low level, maybe its worse at higher level, I don't even want to try) if it took me 5 hours to try something interesting and then go back. So I think its reasonable to assume that a lot of build beta testing did not happen that could have.
But forget about beta, that is allegedly in the past. Now if we're talking about post beta. A casual player would probably take a weekend, or maybe even a week, with crap gear, to try a different build with this system. A player with not much time, in D3/D4/POE/etc, would take minutes to try a new build and decide it wasn't for them. I think that's a problem in a type of game that is about builds.
I think that if we are talking about respeccing while leveling, the measure of respec time should end when you're back to functional. Being a couple points short doesn't really make much too much of a difference. With that in mind, an upper time on a respec for most players while leveling is probably more in the 30min range. I would suggest that the average time is probably more in the 10min range though.
Especially while leveling, you can also take one of your utility skills and stick your respec target main DPS ability on that specialize slot (doesn't need to be on your bar) and then level it up and then switch after it's leveled back.
There are some tricks to respeccing even faster once you hit the monolith (lvl 55+). This can make a full respec take even less.
Also, given the comparisons to D3/4/PoE, in my person experience with each game, D3 is the only one that is significantly easier/faster. This was actually the example we used internally of what to avoid.
I'm not sure what I said to imply that the beta testing was over (it's not) but that isn't really a reason to have a different respec version pre-launch. The main purpose of beta is to get feedback on how the game is in order to get feedback on how we can improve it. If we were to give D3 style respec now, we wouldn't get any usable feedback on our respec system. If the goal of an individual specific test event was to get widespread testing on each node of each skill tree, then that would make sense to include a temporary sandbox mode where people could do that.
Our current goals with beta feedback are to get info on how the game is and plays now so we can fix those problems for 1.0. We get a massive amount of feedback on all the skills. Having a lower barrier respec system would not provide us with more or better feedback. Instead it would invalidate all the feedback we get on the respec system. It would also set a precedent for all the existing players. On top of all that, the launch patch note of "removed free respecs" would not go over well at all.
I think that if we are talking about respeccing while leveling, the measure of respec time should end when you're back to functional. Being a couple points short doesn't really make much too much of a difference.
The skill points you get can make a huge difference in how the build plays. I mean, that is what they are there for. When I switched to fireball it was surprisingly weak at first.
With that in mind, an upper time on a respec for most players while leveling is probably more in the 30min range. I would suggest that the average time is probably more in the 10min range though.
It took leveling from 24 to 28 to get back 9 spec points, with twink gear. While questing did you get from 24 to 28 in 10 minutes?
I know my replies are kinda wordy but I feel a little like you've just skipped huge sections and then misinterpreted a section to make a point. Assuming that this is wildly wrong on my part, I'll explain more.
The skill points you get can make a huge difference in how the build plays. I mean, that is what they are there for. When I switched to fireball it was surprisingly weak at first.
Yes, you're right, skill points can make a huge difference in how the build plays. That doesn't refute my point that I was making though. How much of a difference did that 9th skill point make compared to the first 5? With how the catchup skill xp works, you get those critical nodes that have the biggest impact really fast. Especially when you're at low level like this, you're not relying on the big multipliers that exist in the tree for damage much yet (because you don't have a ton of base spell damage) so you're looking to get to maybe Fire Spray (4 points) and maybe push to Arcane Divergence (7 points). Or maybe Embers (5 points). Or possibly Unchained Fire (5 points). My point is that you are probably up to a functional level where your progress through the campaign is roughly the same, well before you get all the way back to 9 points. So it's not really a question of how fast you can get back to 9 points but rather a question of how fast you can get back to 5-ish points. With the minimum skill levels probably being 3 at lvl 24 (I could be off one way or the other on this but I'm just going to assume I'm remember right) you only really need 2 skill levels while at super XP gain speed. This process should take a few mins. The skill's power will still increase and your clear speed will still go up as you gain more skill levels but you'll already be that fireball sorc.
TL:DR You don't need full 9 points to consider the respec effectively complete.
It took leveling from 24 to 28 to get back 9 spec points, with twink gear. While questing did you get from 24 to 28 in 10 minutes?
No, but that's not what I said in my last post so.....see above answer for more details.
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