We have stated our intention to replace some skills in Last Epoch which we regard as placeholders. Two of the most commonly discussed examples are Fire Shield and Ice Ward, which we believe are fundamentally too passive to exist in the form of active skills. The functionality offered by these skills and their trees will instead be made available through class passives, trees for other skills, unique items, and possibly other sources.
Some of the feedback we have received regarding these plans is that skills which provide ‘always there’ bonuses can be fun - as they contribute to the power fantasy that is integral to an ARPG, and facilitate your character doing multiple things at the same time.
We agree with these points. For us the issue is not that Fire Shield and Ice Ward provide passive, ongoing benefits to your character, but that they fail to do anything else. To put that another way, we are not opposed to skills with passive elements - we just don’t believe that F...
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