This should be stickied and edited as we get closer to beta/in beta.|||Quote:
I am guessing the lack of imagination in them is because Traits are still a new system i.e. work in progress. Current passives in Cataclysm WoW Talents are so much cooler and game changing than what we have here.
All of the traits had a few lines of lore along with the description. I'm guessing no one took the time to include those, or transcribe it from the videos they sneaked of the hovers, which is where these descriptions are coming from.
The lore pretty good, the only one I really remember was an Iron Skin type trait for the barb, and the lore, which was shorter than most, was something like,
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Eventually, the scars thicken enough to become their own armor.
Also on traits, most of them occur on many or all of the chars. All the generic ones. Lucky, Toughness, and Unbreakable will, for example.
More points in traits tended to give the same as the initial bonus, on almost all I looked at/remember. So if you got +20% for one point, you'd get +40% for 2, +60% for 3, etc.|||"lack of imagination" was more directed at their design rather than the lore aspect. Some of the cut passives that were showcased for the Barbarian/Wizard in 2008 Blizzcon were quite a bit more interesting (stuff like resist lowering debuff on arcane spells).|||Quote:
I am guessing the lack of imagination in them is because Traits are still a new system i.e. work in progress. Current passives in Cataclysm WoW Talents are so much cooler and game changing than what we have here.
I understand the need to have some core attribute modification in traits, but the cool passives need love too.
I can agree with that. Then again, there is value in homogeneous traits amongst the classes as well, depending on what they are, like basic things such as crit or regeneration from globes.
I'll have to read about those cataclysm traits, sounds interesting.|||Here - http://cata.wowhead.com/talent#oZZb
There are obviously some boring efficiency or DPS boosters, and much of the changes center around modifying cast time (a concept almost non-existent in Diablo), but many of the passives significantly modify behavior of how spells work. That system would not work for Diablo 3 in terms of modifying individual spells, but they could work on implementing cool effects for schools of spells rather than just "+5% damage to all Elemental spells sort of stuff". Ala the Wizard reducing enemy enemy resists when hitting them with Arcane damage kind of traits.
In short, I would want a character specializing in stuff like Summons or Arcane spells to have traits that reflect that with unusual effects rather than straight damage boosters. WD health with summons sharing stuff is a good start.|||Damn. Some of those are...really complicated. I suppose it would make more sense if I've played the game any time recently.
I do see what you mean, though. So these talents can end up being kind of like a static skill rune. I like how all of the talents within a talent tree work off of each other, like D2 synergies.|||Toughness (5 point max.): Increases your Vitality.
Mind & Body (3 points max.): Regenerate 1% health per second.
Ritual of Blood (1 point max.): 50% of mana costs go to health.
Rituals (5 points max.): Increases spell damage by a value equivalent to 10% of your Vitality.
This is an awesome combination!|||http://www.diablowiki.net/Witch_Doctor_traits
Great job on the translation, and they've all been added to the wiki. There are a lot of these with the same name as the removed WD passive skills. I haven't compared all of the stats, but they're virtually identical in most cases. As you'd expect.|||Quote:
Toughness (5 point max.): Increases your Vitality.
Mind & Body (3 points max.): Regenerate 1% health per second.
Ritual of Blood (1 point max.): 50% of mana costs go to health.
Rituals (5 points max.): Increases spell damage by a value equivalent to 10% of your Vitality.
This is an awesome combination!
This, I think, is part of the benefit to having the traits be so dull. The fact that all the traits (generally) accomplish a handful of things from many different angles allows for neat-o keen-o combos like the one mentioned by Thrakhath. Another such combo, for a "spirit spell" focused WD, could include Meditation, Mana Regeneration, and Toughness to load up on mana regen, and then put points in Rituals to take full advantage of the Vit provided by Toughness.
A different WD could put points in Quickening, Ritual of Blood, Right-handed, Spirit Vessel, Death Pact, Blood Rites and various others to accomplish a totally different style of play. Where the first example WD is a pretty vanilla caster with a focus on spirit spells and mana regen, this second example WD would start a battle by blasting everything a quickly as possible until his health drops to %50 due to RoB. Then, due to his increased survivability from Death Pact, he could engage the remaining foes in melee combat (since Right-handed means he can wield a melee weapon w/ no harm done to his casting ability). He would get stronger with each health globe (BR and SV) and intermittently toss out more spells or summon more minions.
Also worth noting, though its not as interesting as the difference in gameplay between the two, is how totally different each WD would be dealing with his or her resource. The first essentially tries to match his spell casting rate to his mana regen rate, leaving himself room (or not) for huge, mana-draining nukes or emergency spells should the need arise. For the second WD, stacking mana regen to the point where it would be effective would take too many trait points. Instead, he uses Spirit Vessel to regain mana, a much more efficient method since he's in melee picking up health globes as they spawn. It's almost as if they have two totally different resource systems.
(Quick side note: I was disappointed way back when I first heard the WD would be stuck with boring old mana. Now, however, I'm thinking D3 is going to use it in a new and very interesting way.)
Additionally, limiting the extent of the things traits can affect ensures that they will be useful no matter where you put your trait points. Regardless of build, what WD wouldn't want more willpower? Since crits can trigger on spells, the same goes for all the dex and crit improving traits. And a trait like Death Pact can improve a WD's chance of surviving in melee, or act as a failsafe if he happens to get swarmed. Granted, there are some traits that do very much rely on you having a certain type of build (Fetish Leader, etc.), but these are the minority.
I guess the main brick in this wall of text is the idea that traits as they are now both simplify and complicate the game. They can be be tagged onto an already-thought-out build with effectiveness, or they can be used almost totally as the basis for a build. They can drastically alter a char's gameplay, or just sit helpfully in the background. I agree that they come off as quite plain at first glance, but further consideration has led me to conclude that they add something very, very interesting to the game.
On a more personal note, I never really liked item mods that increased damage against specific enemy types. I mean, they lose so much effectiveness 66% of the time. Thus, I'm not a huge fan of Beasthunter/Demon's Bane/ Just Stay Dead for any class. I'm also not crazy about Lucky. I can't really see many people putting points in it over any other trait that would maximize killing potential. Just seems like a waste of a trait point, but I dunno. Then again, just 'cause I don't like it doesn't mean other people don't.
Also, concerning the WD's Fetish Leader/Plaugued/Zombie Master traits, and this is directed at anyone who was at Blizzcon 2010. Was there info in the skill tooltips or possible some kind of color-coding in the skill tier that explicitly marked a skill as a spirit, plague, fetish, or zombie skill? Not that it's all that difficult to figure out, I was just wondering. (And now that I think about it, which category would zombie charger fall into?
)Well, sorry for the massive post! If you really read all the way through to here, I commend you.
And one gigantic thank you to Zediono for finding and translating these and all the other traits. YOU ARE THE MAN!
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