Hex Master is a keystone that replaces Doomsday in The Forbidden Sanctum
Path of Exile News
3.20 Balance Manifesto: Curses
Our last three manifestos covered Jewels and Ailment Mitigation, the replacement of Archnemesis modifiers and Eldritch Altars. In today's final 3.20 manifesto, we're discussing changes to Curses (specifically, Hexes) and our goal of making their effectiveness against different rarities of monsters more balanced.
TLDR:
For more details, see below:
Hex Strength Against Different Monster Tiers
Currently, Hex Builds are at their weakest against monsters where they matter the most and at their strongest where they matter the least. This is partly because Hexes have hidden penalties which reduce their effectiveness when fighting unique monsters and pinnacle bosses (currently 33% and 66% respectively).
It's normal for these monsters to have various hidden penalties, as noting every single one would create a lot of clutter in their mod descriptions. Players can reasonably expect these monsters to be more difficult to fight, so in general, showing the entire list of penalties is not very necessary. However, the penalty against Hexes is an outlier because it's much more significant compared to other hidden penalties.
Because it is so substantial while also being hidden from players, it is unlikely to be compensated for during build creation and creates a notable disadvantage for Hex builds
We have removed both of these penalties so that Hexes will be consistently effective against all monsters in the game.
The Doom Mechanic
Another issue that we feel undermines Hex builds is the Doom mechanic. We designed Doom with the goal of making self-cast Hexes more effective than other more trivial applications of Hexes, such as the Blasphemy and Hextouch Support gems. The Doom mechanic was somewhat successful in its goal, but came at the cost of adding a lot of complexity to Hex-related mechanics.
We are removing the Doom mechanic and as a consequence will be making several other changes to mechanics that previously interacted with Doom. For example, all stats that reference Doom have been replaced with other curse-themed stats.
Hexblast has had its skill mechanics and damage adjusted to account for the loss of Doom's scaling. Impending Doom has also had its base damage roughly doubled to compensate for this loss. We have replaced the Doomsday keystone with a new Hex-themed keystone.
Curse-Related Uniques
We've buffed a bunch of Hex-related unique items and have reworked unique items that previously interacted with Doom such as the Fated End unique ring. We've also added some powerful new unique items that interact with Hexes.
This new ring lets you scale your curse limit in a completely different way, by tying it to your power charge count. Or you can simply not scale it and put this on to apply 3 curses!
Here is an example of one of the rebalanced curse uniques. The Reservation Efficiency mod has been buffed from 20% to 30%, and the level of socketed curse gems has gone up from +1 to +2.
Ensuring Self-Cast is Powerful
In most cases, systems that facilitate somewhat automated gameplay, like Hextouch applying Hexes automatically, should either come at a much higher cost or be less effective. In some cases, both are needed to counterbalance the significant upside of automation. Otherwise, the option to automate will always be the obvious choice and eclipse other more interactive gameplay styles. The Doom mechanic was aimed at fulfilling this function for Hexes, and is being replaced by alternative, simpler solutions.
We have added penalties to both Blasphemy and Hextouch Supports which grant less curse effect at all gem levels. Additionally, item mods that inflict a specific Hex no longer do so with increased effect. This includes items where the Hex is meant to be a downside on the player, such as Coward's Chains, Coward's Legacy or Soul Mantle.
Hex Skill Gem Scaling
Different Hex types are not evenly balanced when applied via Hex-on-hit modifiers. Some Hexes like Vulnerability and Despair are much more powerful than others. This is because Hex-on-hit modifiers apply a Hex equivalent to the level 1 version of the Hex skill gem. Some Hexes are very strong at Level 1, relative to their Level 20 power, because they scale in a more gradual way with gem level. This means that in some cases, using Hex-on-hit is too powerful alongside its benefit of also applying Hexes automatically.
We are stabilising the gem scaling rates of Hexes. In general, they should be twice as powerful at gem level 20 than they are at gem level 1.
Scaling Curse Effect
We feel that there are currently too many sources of Curse Effect available. This has created a large power gap between players that have no investment in Curses and those that have heavy investment into Curses, which has continually caused us to have the baseline effect of curses to be lower than we'd like.
We are regulating the number of sources of Curse Effect throughout the game. This will also rein in the power of players building Curse Support characters. These changes have been focused on less-accessible sources of Curse Effect, such as Eldritch Implicits on helmets, rather than accessible sources like the Passive Skill Tree. The curse effect notables on cluster jewels have been replaced with other appropriate ones. For example, the one that used to grant Flammability effect now allows your Flammability Hex to apply to hexproof enemies and also causes your ignites on cursed enemies to deal damage faster.
The Occultist Ascendancy Class
We have removed the '15% increased Effect of your Curses' and 'Enemies you Curse have Malediction' stats from the Malediction notable in the Occultist's Ascendancy. The 'Your Hexes can affect Hexproof Enemies' stat has been moved from Profane Bloom to the Malediction notable. We will be renaming this notable passive as it no longer causes you to apply Malediction to enemies you Curse.
Due to the significant increase in the power of hexes against tougher monsters, the effects of this notable are still very strong, as the removal of the hex penalty cannot be understated. The massive buff to hexes especially applies to Occultists because they have access to more Hexes than other Ascendancies.
The curse effect removed from the notable previously known as Malediction has been moved to the passive skill tree, where it's available for everyone. This is important, because while the Occultist is still the strongest overall Ascendancy for someone who wants to specialise in applying many hexes, it's not mandatory to play for someone who merely wants to apply really strong hexes.
Temporal Chains and Enfeeble
The current balance of Enfeeble and Temporal Chains makes them exceedingly strong against normal and magic monsters while being relatively ineffective against pinnacle bosses. For example, a level 20 Temporal Chains gem currently reduces a Pinnacle Boss' action speed by just 4%. You can get more than twice as much action speed reduction using any skill that chills. This is another case of Hexes being weakest where they matter most and strongest where they matter least.
Because of the changes to Curse Effect, we're now able to make Temporal Chains and Enfeeble strong defensive options without requiring large investment into Curse Effect.
In addition to changes to their overall gem levels and scaling, we are also planning to increase the "Cursed Rare and Unique Enemies have x% less Action Speed" modifier on Temporal Chains as well as increasing the "Cursed Rare and Unique Enemies deal x% less Damage" modifier on Enfeeble.
Vulnerability and Despair
While working on the updates outlined above, we took the opportunity to make some stat changes to Vulnerability and Despair to help make these gems cleaner. They are now more focussed on making enemies vulnerable to Physical and Chaos damage in ways that are generically useful for any build dealing primarily Physical or Chaos damage. We will confirm the specifics of these changes in the 3.20 expansion patch notes.
Hexblast
Hexblast has had its skill mechanics and damage adjusted to account for the loss of Doom's scaling. Broadly speaking, it does less damage at the very top end of gameplay but getting it to a fairly decent level of damage is easier than before. It now removes a random Hex from an enemy and will deal more damage with hits and ailments if a Hex was removed in this way. Its damage is also more consistent because you no longer need to wait for Doom to build up.
Conclusion
In general, Hexes will be stronger against tough monsters and weaker against lesser monsters. We've removed Doom in order to simplify how Hexes work, introduced penalties to automated Hex application methods to keep them from outclassing self-casting, and made several other balance changes as a consequence of these overall changes.
Please note that the above plans are still subject to change in the lead up to the launch of The Forbidden Sanctum expansion. We'll reveal the specifics of these changes in the patch notes.
TLDR:
- Hidden monster penalties against curses have been removed.
- Hexes are now stronger against unique monsters and at least twice as strong against pinnacle bosses, but are weaker against regular monsters.
- The Doom mechanic has been removed, to simplify the Hex system. Anything related to Doom has been reworked so that it's comparable to before.
- The Occultist ascendancy class has had some stats removed and moved around to counteract some of the power gain from the above changes.
- Enfeeble and Temporal Chains have been buffed.
- To aid the above changes, some less-accessible sources of Curse Effect have been removed. This also acts as a nerf to Hex Support builds.
- Hex gems have been rebalanced with the goal of ensuring that self-cast remains relevant compared to automatic curse application.
- We've buffed a bunch of Hex-related unique items and reworked unique items that previously interacted with Doom.
- We've also added some powerful new unique items that interact with Hexes.
For more details, see below:
Hex Strength Against Different Monster Tiers
Currently, Hex Builds are at their weakest against monsters where they matter the most and at their strongest where they matter the least. This is partly because Hexes have hidden penalties which reduce their effectiveness when fighting unique monsters and pinnacle bosses (currently 33% and 66% respectively).
It's normal for these monsters to have various hidden penalties, as noting every single one would create a lot of clutter in their mod descriptions. Players can reasonably expect these monsters to be more difficult to fight, so in general, showing the entire list of penalties is not very necessary. However, the penalty against Hexes is an outlier because it's much more significant compared to other hidden penalties.
Because it is so substantial while also being hidden from players, it is unlikely to be compensated for during build creation and creates a notable disadvantage for Hex builds
We have removed both of these penalties so that Hexes will be consistently effective against all monsters in the game.
The Doom Mechanic
Another issue that we feel undermines Hex builds is the Doom mechanic. We designed Doom with the goal of making self-cast Hexes more effective than other more trivial applications of Hexes, such as the Blasphemy and Hextouch Support gems. The Doom mechanic was somewhat successful in its goal, but came at the cost of adding a lot of complexity to Hex-related mechanics.
We are removing the Doom mechanic and as a consequence will be making several other changes to mechanics that previously interacted with Doom. For example, all stats that reference Doom have been replaced with other curse-themed stats.
Hexblast has had its skill mechanics and damage adjusted to account for the loss of Doom's scaling. Impending Doom has also had its base damage roughly doubled to compensate for this loss. We have replaced the Doomsday keystone with a new Hex-themed keystone.
Curse-Related Uniques
We've buffed a bunch of Hex-related unique items and have reworked unique items that previously interacted with Doom such as the Fated End unique ring. We've also added some powerful new unique items that interact with Hexes.
This new ring lets you scale your curse limit in a completely different way, by tying it to your power charge count. Or you can simply not scale it and put this on to apply 3 curses!
Here is an example of one of the rebalanced curse uniques. The Reservation Efficiency mod has been buffed from 20% to 30%, and the level of socketed curse gems has gone up from +1 to +2.
Ensuring Self-Cast is Powerful
In most cases, systems that facilitate somewhat automated gameplay, like Hextouch applying Hexes automatically, should either come at a much higher cost or be less effective. In some cases, both are needed to counterbalance the significant upside of automation. Otherwise, the option to automate will always be the obvious choice and eclipse other more interactive gameplay styles. The Doom mechanic was aimed at fulfilling this function for Hexes, and is being replaced by alternative, simpler solutions.
We have added penalties to both Blasphemy and Hextouch Supports which grant less curse effect at all gem levels. Additionally, item mods that inflict a specific Hex no longer do so with increased effect. This includes items where the Hex is meant to be a downside on the player, such as Coward's Chains, Coward's Legacy or Soul Mantle.
Hex Skill Gem Scaling
Different Hex types are not evenly balanced when applied via Hex-on-hit modifiers. Some Hexes like Vulnerability and Despair are much more powerful than others. This is because Hex-on-hit modifiers apply a Hex equivalent to the level 1 version of the Hex skill gem. Some Hexes are very strong at Level 1, relative to their Level 20 power, because they scale in a more gradual way with gem level. This means that in some cases, using Hex-on-hit is too powerful alongside its benefit of also applying Hexes automatically.
We are stabilising the gem scaling rates of Hexes. In general, they should be twice as powerful at gem level 20 than they are at gem level 1.
Scaling Curse Effect
We feel that there are currently too many sources of Curse Effect available. This has created a large power gap between players that have no investment in Curses and those that have heavy investment into Curses, which has continually caused us to have the baseline effect of curses to be lower than we'd like.
We are regulating the number of sources of Curse Effect throughout the game. This will also rein in the power of players building Curse Support characters. These changes have been focused on less-accessible sources of Curse Effect, such as Eldritch Implicits on helmets, rather than accessible sources like the Passive Skill Tree. The curse effect notables on cluster jewels have been replaced with other appropriate ones. For example, the one that used to grant Flammability effect now allows your Flammability Hex to apply to hexproof enemies and also causes your ignites on cursed enemies to deal damage faster.
The Occultist Ascendancy Class
We have removed the '15% increased Effect of your Curses' and 'Enemies you Curse have Malediction' stats from the Malediction notable in the Occultist's Ascendancy. The 'Your Hexes can affect Hexproof Enemies' stat has been moved from Profane Bloom to the Malediction notable. We will be renaming this notable passive as it no longer causes you to apply Malediction to enemies you Curse.
Due to the significant increase in the power of hexes against tougher monsters, the effects of this notable are still very strong, as the removal of the hex penalty cannot be understated. The massive buff to hexes especially applies to Occultists because they have access to more Hexes than other Ascendancies.
The curse effect removed from the notable previously known as Malediction has been moved to the passive skill tree, where it's available for everyone. This is important, because while the Occultist is still the strongest overall Ascendancy for someone who wants to specialise in applying many hexes, it's not mandatory to play for someone who merely wants to apply really strong hexes.
Temporal Chains and Enfeeble
The current balance of Enfeeble and Temporal Chains makes them exceedingly strong against normal and magic monsters while being relatively ineffective against pinnacle bosses. For example, a level 20 Temporal Chains gem currently reduces a Pinnacle Boss' action speed by just 4%. You can get more than twice as much action speed reduction using any skill that chills. This is another case of Hexes being weakest where they matter most and strongest where they matter least.
Because of the changes to Curse Effect, we're now able to make Temporal Chains and Enfeeble strong defensive options without requiring large investment into Curse Effect.
In addition to changes to their overall gem levels and scaling, we are also planning to increase the "Cursed Rare and Unique Enemies have x% less Action Speed" modifier on Temporal Chains as well as increasing the "Cursed Rare and Unique Enemies deal x% less Damage" modifier on Enfeeble.
Vulnerability and Despair
While working on the updates outlined above, we took the opportunity to make some stat changes to Vulnerability and Despair to help make these gems cleaner. They are now more focussed on making enemies vulnerable to Physical and Chaos damage in ways that are generically useful for any build dealing primarily Physical or Chaos damage. We will confirm the specifics of these changes in the 3.20 expansion patch notes.
Hexblast
Hexblast has had its skill mechanics and damage adjusted to account for the loss of Doom's scaling. Broadly speaking, it does less damage at the very top end of gameplay but getting it to a fairly decent level of damage is easier than before. It now removes a random Hex from an enemy and will deal more damage with hits and ailments if a Hex was removed in this way. Its damage is also more consistent because you no longer need to wait for Doom to build up.
Conclusion
In general, Hexes will be stronger against tough monsters and weaker against lesser monsters. We've removed Doom in order to simplify how Hexes work, introduced penalties to automated Hex application methods to keep them from outclassing self-casting, and made several other balance changes as a consequence of these overall changes.
Please note that the above plans are still subject to change in the lead up to the launch of The Forbidden Sanctum expansion. We'll reveal the specifics of these changes in the patch notes.
Weekend Thanksgiving Sale!
This weekend, we're having a huge sale on classic microtransactions in our store! All items that are part of the sale are discounted by 50%, so make sure you look through the store for some great deals! Check out the sale by pressing the 'M' key to open the store in-game!
Not sure what to get? Check out the set below, which includes the Desert Helmet, Victorious Wings, Carnage Body Armour, Warlock Gloves and Boots, Crypt Sword, Radiant Weapon Effect and Seraph Shield, which are all part of the sale!
Short on points? Be sure to check out the Kalandra Supporter Packs, which will leave the store once the Kalandra League ends!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Our Core Supporter Packs also offer a great deal of points and will also leave the store soon to be replaced with new Core Packs! We'll give you more notice when they leave the store, but in the meantime you can check them out by pressing the 'M' key to open the store in-game.
Thanks for your support and Happy Thanksgiving!
Not sure what to get? Check out the set below, which includes the Desert Helmet, Victorious Wings, Carnage Body Armour, Warlock Gloves and Boots, Crypt Sword, Radiant Weapon Effect and Seraph Shield, which are all part of the sale!
Short on points? Be sure to check out the Kalandra Supporter Packs, which will leave the store once the Kalandra League ends!
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Our Core Supporter Packs also offer a great deal of points and will also leave the store soon to be replaced with new Core Packs! We'll give you more notice when they leave the store, but in the meantime you can check them out by pressing the 'M' key to open the store in-game.
Thanks for your support and Happy Thanksgiving!
Streamer Interview - ds_lily
From zany antics to hardcore racing, community streamer ds_lily's stream has it all to keep you entertained! We sat down with Lily to find out what their life is like outside of gaming, check it out!
[h3]Hi ds_lily, thank you for taking part in the interview! Please introduce yourself.[/h3]
Hi I'm Lily. You can find me streaming at https://twitch.tv/ds_lily. I usually participate in races in HCSSF, typically placing in the top 10.
[h3]When did you first get into Path of Exile?[/h3]
I first got into Path of Exile a little bit after its release in late 2013. Youtube recommended a video from Kripparrian, and I thought that it looked like a more modern version of games I played growing up that I enjoyed.
[h3]What one thing caught your attention in the beginning and what one thing kept you coming back?[/h3]
Having a fresh start and new builds to play every few months is definitely what kept me coming back. I basically only play games that have a huge replayability value and the league systems / balance changes make the replayability value practically infinite.
[h3]Are there any highlights from your time playing Path of Exile that stand out in your memory?[/h3]
The main highlight is probably my “brain lag” incident which was during the Awakener kill event during Metamorph league. I was probably about 4-5 hours away from getting to the fight and this was also before anyone had got there as well, so I was pretty close to being one of the first there (I was also rank 1 in XP at the time). However, I was awake for about 30 hours at this point and for some reason I decided it was time to do normal Elder. Well in my sleep-deprived brain I forgot to run to Zana bubble at the end and died.
[h3]Do you have a favourite build?[/h3]
Not really, but I tend to like builds that stack a high number of projectiles (buff molten strike).
[h3]Which expansion has been your favourite so far?[/h3]
Sentinel league was my favorite league that has come out so far. Primarily for the fact that it enabled a lot of builds without it just being a glorified item editor like harvest and it gave value back to a lot of special mods you could find on gear that are otherwise pretty much worthless.
[h3]What's one thing every Path of Exile player should hear?[/h3]
Stop doing things you don’t want to do even if it isn’t maximum efficiency.
[h3]When did you first start streaming? How did you get into it?[/h3]
I first started streaming in April 2019 when I noticed that PoE has really, really good growth opportunities for streamers compared to basically any other game. Basically be good at the game and you will have viewers. A great feature for streamer growth is also the in-game announcements, so I decided to start blasting on the XP ladder at league starts which will broadcast your name to everyone. Adding all those things together and I also noticed that there were no girl gamers doing this, so I decided it was time to git gud and there was a wide open market niche to become a popular streamer.
[h3]What can people expect from your stream and schedule?[/h3]
I don’t really know how to describe my stream other than weird antics and lots of beef. My schedule is typically starting stream everyday around 9 AM PST, though I am trying to start a bit earlier.
[h3]What were you doing before you started streaming?[/h3]
Sitting in my room playing video games, not much has changed.
[h3]What hobbies or interests do you have outside of streaming?[/h3]
I don’t think most streamers do anything but stream. Cars are pretty cool though.
[h3]How has your life changed from before you were streaming until now? What role has streaming played in that transition?[/h3]
Not much has really changed overall, except now I see video games as a job and I don’t enjoy them that much when not streaming. If I’m playing a game off stream I pretty much just feel like I should be streaming it.
[h3]Is there anything you'd like to see more of in the streaming community?[/h3]
I think the PoE streamers are probably the best community on Twitch, so I feel like other gaming stream communities should take some notes from us. No real drama, everyone in the category is pretty well connected to each other, pretty much everyone is included, etc.
[h3]Do you have any advice for people who are looking to make their own career out of streaming?[/h3]
You need to bring something different to the table than all the other creators if you really want to succeed, the opportunities for this are pretty slim though.
Thank you so much for participating in the interview! If you'd like to follow ds_lily, you can do so on Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch. Also, don't forget that you can support both ds_lily and the development of Path of Exile by buying microtransactions from her Nexus page!
[h3]Hi ds_lily, thank you for taking part in the interview! Please introduce yourself.[/h3]
Hi I'm Lily. You can find me streaming at https://twitch.tv/ds_lily. I usually participate in races in HCSSF, typically placing in the top 10.
[h3]When did you first get into Path of Exile?[/h3]
I first got into Path of Exile a little bit after its release in late 2013. Youtube recommended a video from Kripparrian, and I thought that it looked like a more modern version of games I played growing up that I enjoyed.
[h3]What one thing caught your attention in the beginning and what one thing kept you coming back?[/h3]
Having a fresh start and new builds to play every few months is definitely what kept me coming back. I basically only play games that have a huge replayability value and the league systems / balance changes make the replayability value practically infinite.
[h3]Are there any highlights from your time playing Path of Exile that stand out in your memory?[/h3]
The main highlight is probably my “brain lag” incident which was during the Awakener kill event during Metamorph league. I was probably about 4-5 hours away from getting to the fight and this was also before anyone had got there as well, so I was pretty close to being one of the first there (I was also rank 1 in XP at the time). However, I was awake for about 30 hours at this point and for some reason I decided it was time to do normal Elder. Well in my sleep-deprived brain I forgot to run to Zana bubble at the end and died.
[h3]Do you have a favourite build?[/h3]
Not really, but I tend to like builds that stack a high number of projectiles (buff molten strike).
[h3]Which expansion has been your favourite so far?[/h3]
Sentinel league was my favorite league that has come out so far. Primarily for the fact that it enabled a lot of builds without it just being a glorified item editor like harvest and it gave value back to a lot of special mods you could find on gear that are otherwise pretty much worthless.
[h3]What's one thing every Path of Exile player should hear?[/h3]
Stop doing things you don’t want to do even if it isn’t maximum efficiency.
[h3]When did you first start streaming? How did you get into it?[/h3]
I first started streaming in April 2019 when I noticed that PoE has really, really good growth opportunities for streamers compared to basically any other game. Basically be good at the game and you will have viewers. A great feature for streamer growth is also the in-game announcements, so I decided to start blasting on the XP ladder at league starts which will broadcast your name to everyone. Adding all those things together and I also noticed that there were no girl gamers doing this, so I decided it was time to git gud and there was a wide open market niche to become a popular streamer.
[h3]What can people expect from your stream and schedule?[/h3]
I don’t really know how to describe my stream other than weird antics and lots of beef. My schedule is typically starting stream everyday around 9 AM PST, though I am trying to start a bit earlier.
[h3]What were you doing before you started streaming?[/h3]
Sitting in my room playing video games, not much has changed.
[h3]What hobbies or interests do you have outside of streaming?[/h3]
I don’t think most streamers do anything but stream. Cars are pretty cool though.
[h3]How has your life changed from before you were streaming until now? What role has streaming played in that transition?[/h3]
Not much has really changed overall, except now I see video games as a job and I don’t enjoy them that much when not streaming. If I’m playing a game off stream I pretty much just feel like I should be streaming it.
[h3]Is there anything you'd like to see more of in the streaming community?[/h3]
I think the PoE streamers are probably the best community on Twitch, so I feel like other gaming stream communities should take some notes from us. No real drama, everyone in the category is pretty well connected to each other, pretty much everyone is included, etc.
[h3]Do you have any advice for people who are looking to make their own career out of streaming?[/h3]
You need to bring something different to the table than all the other creators if you really want to succeed, the opportunities for this are pretty slim though.
Thank you so much for participating in the interview! If you'd like to follow ds_lily, you can do so on Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch. Also, don't forget that you can support both ds_lily and the development of Path of Exile by buying microtransactions from her Nexus page!
Eldritch Altars FAQ
Yesterday, we shared a balance manifesto that outlined the upcoming changes to Eldritch Altars. Today, we're sharing a short and sweet FAQ to provide more information.
[h3]Can we get the Altar mods on the Map Mod UI?[/h3]
Yes, we've added this in 3.20.
[h3]Can you make Altars more readable in the heat of combat?[/h3]
We've discussed community feedback around this, specifically to consider options around instance-pausing, colour indicators or reward symbols. Each of these options has their own drawbacks so we won't be making any changes on this front for now. The best thing to do is to finish killing the surrounding monsters before reading the Altar.
[h3]How common are Awakened Gems from the Maven?[/h3]
When you kill the Maven herself, the chance of getting an Awakened Gem is quite common. The drop chance from Maven-witnessed map bosses is a lot lower than this because these fights occur more often. The goal is that they're common enough that it feels worthwhile running Maven-witnessed maps while not having Awakened Gems feel too common and significantly lowering their value.
[h3]How common are Rusted Scarabs in the core drop pool?[/h3]
The exact weighting hasn't been finalised yet but currently, we're looking at them being slightly less common than Rogue's Markers. Note that that is on top of other sources of Scarabs like Altars, Delirium, Betrayal, etc. (As we mentioned, these drop less frequently from Altars in 3.20, but other sources haven't changed).
[h3]Why does currency drop in stacks of one now?[/h3]
This change only applies to rewards from Influenced Monsters. Altar rewards that say things like "Map Boss Drops Three Vaal Orbs" will still drop in stacks of three requiring one click for pickup.
One of the goals of the Altar changes from the outset was to retain the feel of Altars such that the gameplay feels familiar, as we're generally happy with how that feels to play. Part of retaining this means we want to keep the frequency of encountering Eldritch Altars relatively common. If we want to give you Altars relatively often, it means we're giving out rewards relatively often so one of the ways of balancing this is to make the stack sizes of those rewards lower.
Most Currency rewards from Influenced Monsters already dropped in stacks of one, but there were a few outliers (most notably Map Currency rewards). The outliers are generally the only thing that is changing here in terms of stack size.
[h3]Are you nerfing Heist and Expedition rewards?[/h3]
We have no plans regarding this.
[h3]Can we get the Altar mods on the Map Mod UI?[/h3]
Yes, we've added this in 3.20.
[h3]Can you make Altars more readable in the heat of combat?[/h3]
We've discussed community feedback around this, specifically to consider options around instance-pausing, colour indicators or reward symbols. Each of these options has their own drawbacks so we won't be making any changes on this front for now. The best thing to do is to finish killing the surrounding monsters before reading the Altar.
[h3]How common are Awakened Gems from the Maven?[/h3]
When you kill the Maven herself, the chance of getting an Awakened Gem is quite common. The drop chance from Maven-witnessed map bosses is a lot lower than this because these fights occur more often. The goal is that they're common enough that it feels worthwhile running Maven-witnessed maps while not having Awakened Gems feel too common and significantly lowering their value.
[h3]How common are Rusted Scarabs in the core drop pool?[/h3]
The exact weighting hasn't been finalised yet but currently, we're looking at them being slightly less common than Rogue's Markers. Note that that is on top of other sources of Scarabs like Altars, Delirium, Betrayal, etc. (As we mentioned, these drop less frequently from Altars in 3.20, but other sources haven't changed).
[h3]Why does currency drop in stacks of one now?[/h3]
This change only applies to rewards from Influenced Monsters. Altar rewards that say things like "Map Boss Drops Three Vaal Orbs" will still drop in stacks of three requiring one click for pickup.
One of the goals of the Altar changes from the outset was to retain the feel of Altars such that the gameplay feels familiar, as we're generally happy with how that feels to play. Part of retaining this means we want to keep the frequency of encountering Eldritch Altars relatively common. If we want to give you Altars relatively often, it means we're giving out rewards relatively often so one of the ways of balancing this is to make the stack sizes of those rewards lower.
Most Currency rewards from Influenced Monsters already dropped in stacks of one, but there were a few outliers (most notably Map Currency rewards). The outliers are generally the only thing that is changing here in terms of stack size.
[h3]Are you nerfing Heist and Expedition rewards?[/h3]
We have no plans regarding this.