06-06-2012, 01:29 PM
This thread is devolving into "my class is underpowered and everyone else is overpowered." And it's all based on anecdotal evidence without hard math/evidence.
Please keep in mind that the perception of class strength is so heavily influenced by gear that it's extremely difficult to actually measure/compare classes directly. You would need to set up lab-style experiments at exactly equal levels of gear weighted towards desirable stats for each class, which is almost impossible to do, especially since item levels are currently not displayed to the end user.
There are a few generally acknowledged truths that affect these discussions:
1) For melee to survive in Inferno, they have to gear and skill heavily on the defensive side. For the sake of argument, why don't we assume that the game is balanced towards this setup? To assume otherwise would mean that Blizzard barely even tested their own game. Melee fans complain that they have to take mostly defensive abilities just to be able to operate; honestly, if they didn't have to, the system would be broken.
2) Demon Hunters don't have powerful defensive skills that Wizards have. This should be compensated by extra damage; whether or not this is the case, I can't comment because I'm ignorant of the mechanics.
3) Barbarians and Monks have a key issue that Demon Hunters don't - because they have to engage the mobs at point-blank range, they obviously need those defensive skills and defensive gear, but this leads to a situation I've described in the past: either the melee character is strong enough to "tank" mobs and look completely overpowered in the process, or they get splatted quickly and the ranged classes look totally unfair. This really skews the viewpoint, and I see it represented in many anecdotes here. I've seen my share of champion packs that are simply impossible for me to defeat that a ranged character can take out at roughly equal gear levels, and vice versa.
To a Demon Hunter, they see a Monk or a Barbarian jump into a group of mobs and survive and think "that's ridiculous." To a Monk or Barbarian, they see the Demon Hunter kite a mob pack that is simply unengageable to them without splatting and think "that's ridiculous."
Gear changes everything. My Barbarian couldn't take on any champion/rare packs at all when she first entered Inferno Act 1. She literally couldn't kill a single member of any boss pack at all. She can now solo Inferno Act 1 with ease (keyword: solo; when in groups, the ramped-up damage that mobs do changes her ability to tank things). Nothing changed, except the gear. My skill level didn't change, I just got better gear.
Please keep in mind that the perception of class strength is so heavily influenced by gear that it's extremely difficult to actually measure/compare classes directly. You would need to set up lab-style experiments at exactly equal levels of gear weighted towards desirable stats for each class, which is almost impossible to do, especially since item levels are currently not displayed to the end user.
There are a few generally acknowledged truths that affect these discussions:
1) For melee to survive in Inferno, they have to gear and skill heavily on the defensive side. For the sake of argument, why don't we assume that the game is balanced towards this setup? To assume otherwise would mean that Blizzard barely even tested their own game. Melee fans complain that they have to take mostly defensive abilities just to be able to operate; honestly, if they didn't have to, the system would be broken.
2) Demon Hunters don't have powerful defensive skills that Wizards have. This should be compensated by extra damage; whether or not this is the case, I can't comment because I'm ignorant of the mechanics.
3) Barbarians and Monks have a key issue that Demon Hunters don't - because they have to engage the mobs at point-blank range, they obviously need those defensive skills and defensive gear, but this leads to a situation I've described in the past: either the melee character is strong enough to "tank" mobs and look completely overpowered in the process, or they get splatted quickly and the ranged classes look totally unfair. This really skews the viewpoint, and I see it represented in many anecdotes here. I've seen my share of champion packs that are simply impossible for me to defeat that a ranged character can take out at roughly equal gear levels, and vice versa.
To a Demon Hunter, they see a Monk or a Barbarian jump into a group of mobs and survive and think "that's ridiculous." To a Monk or Barbarian, they see the Demon Hunter kite a mob pack that is simply unengageable to them without splatting and think "that's ridiculous."
Gear changes everything. My Barbarian couldn't take on any champion/rare packs at all when she first entered Inferno Act 1. She literally couldn't kill a single member of any boss pack at all. She can now solo Inferno Act 1 with ease (keyword: solo; when in groups, the ramped-up damage that mobs do changes her ability to tank things). Nothing changed, except the gear. My skill level didn't change, I just got better gear.
Quote:Considering the mods here are generally liberals who seem to have a soft spot for fascism and white supremacy (despite them saying otherwise), me being perma-banned at some point is probably not out of the question.