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(Sorry for being late guys! Was super busy because of work. I'll go back to fill in the beginning section afterwards).
Itemization
- Pleased with itemization for POE2; for POE1, league content to experiment with different methods of itemization
- Decluttering project - was implemented without a patch note. "No one noticed this". Culls white items that are duplicates, reducing server load. Doesn't affect map drops, currency, weapons.
- Re:"Well-rolled" items are neat, but you would rarely wear them.
- Adjustments to itemization mainly is focused around the mid-tier of gear
- May explore "curating" item drops
- Essences and crafting materials help reduce the issue, but making the base item drop system better is the goal
- "No point crafting until ilvl 86" sentiment - trading for the base vs buying the item outright
- Discussion about tiered currency items? Can't use mirrors on low level items, etc - never passed discussion stage. Most ideas are rejected
- Nugi: Scourge mod balance in comparison was very poor
Sentinels
- Nugi: Sentinel may solve some issues due to Recombinators
- Chris: Concept of a Punnett Square: 25% chance to get a better item, 25% to get a worse item, 50% chance to get a similar power item
- Progression of actual Sentinels is a bit slower than actual items. Rare sentinels are pretty rare as the base is strong, so additional mods are pure upsides
- Empowerment increases damage, damage reduction, quantity, rarity, and chance for a Reward
- Planning reward icons and getting the reward being satisfying
- Drop rate of sentinels being continuously modified during testing. Should drop often enough to sustain a supply of random sentinels.
- Combining two sentinels with 2 mods each are fairly likely to return a Rare sentinel
- League was designed to be quite simple to use - press key to juice 3 times a map.
- Controller can be pre-specced and respecced at any time.
- Is Sentinel less complicated than Incursion or Bestiary?
- Sentinels are 2x2 because of item weight
- Train League concept - inventory full of train parts
- Instant Gratification League vs Slow Burn League - Sentinel is more of an instant gratification league (front loaded rewards). Recombinators are the slow burn reward
- Many Unique Sentinels are designed to be utility in theory
- Only 3 uses per map vs sentinels burning out too quickly/desynced charges numbers?
- Queueing Sentinels is way too janky, and doesn't solve the issue
- Third sentinel slots are unlocked in the Controller. Not like Scourge where slots are complete rng drops (Viscera Cauldron - 10%)
Sentinel Accesories
- Why not a league tab storage? Chris: progression. Archnemesis' only progression was the actually tier of Archnemesis mods. Sentinels have a much more dynamic progression (base tiers, mods..)
- Sentinel locker can search for mods
- Controller: energy fills Filaments to prioritize Sentinel slots and then closest nodes first. Different from Passive Tree due to order mattering (but may be possible to adapt the "pre-allocate" function; prioritizing nodes - life vs damage?)
- Chinese server passive tree only adds a "ghost tree" and doesn't actually allocate nodes, just a visual reference
- 3 Keybinds vs Keybind overload - perhaps not an issue due to only needing to press the button once a map?
Headhunter & Archenemesis
- Archnemesis modifiers cannot stack as they are designed to be way stronger than random stats
- Best mods like Soul Eater cannot stack anyway
- Don't see it as a nerf
- Behead, Inspired Learning, HH Sentinel, etc. gaining more power as each mod has more benefits
- ~80 different modifiers, some are exclusive to only magic or rare enemies
Atlas Changes
- 2% extra content modifiers are +2% to base spawn rate of each mechanic devcheck
Balance
- If it ruins the game, it gets fixed. DD did not ruin the game
Monetization
- Adding a small button into the Atlas UI for Kirac Vault is fine as long as mtx is not P2W because doing so is effective/necessary advertising. The button helped pay for 2 more artists!
- Avoiding ads on the loading screen
- Discussing icon disappearing once you buy the pass?
- Kirac Pass - 30$ vs 600 points? Points effectively have half value of actual price due to Supporter Packs and cost of Supporter Pack mtx development
- There was an idea for a Tier 2 Kirac Pass which included points/mystery boxes but was cut during development
- GGG made concessions which reduced income but not wanting to do things like "tiers of battlepass" or "only start unlocking after buying the pass"
- MTX that scales based on character stats/progress to incentivize itemization
- Next Mystery Box apparently very different from previous ones
- New Mystery Box prevents duplication EXCEPT variations (e.g. cannot roll same one twice, but can get different colours/versions). Only contains character mtx (+hideout teleporters)
- e.g. Weapon effect creates treasure effect that scales based on enemy's internal MF
- Can buy duplicates for price of a mystery box
- Maroider skin: Marauder's muscles inflates with higher Strength
Future Stuff
- 3.19 has new gems - aware new skills attract some players, but not fully representative
- Chris loves the game