Class Specific Crafting

[JustAGuy]

Good Evening,

Of all the things being added and/or changed in the patch I wonder why the Blizzard development team would choose not to re-enable class-specific crafting? I tested out my favourite of the old class-specific crafts:

Paladin Ring:

Magic Ring + Jewel (any type) + Nef + Hel + Any Item
Produces: Ring with cannot be frozen and +1 paladin skills (if you’re lucky – 10% chance of it)
Or
Magic Ring + Jewel (any type) + Nef + Hel + Io
Produces: Ring with cannot be frozen and +1 paladin skills (33% chance)

This recipe does not work in the current 1.10s beta patch, and it’s a damn shame.

I have been playing the 1.10 beta patch since they released it, and Hell mode is driving me nuts. It’s one thing to have to change strategies, but it’s totally another to be dependent on random monster drops to even have a chance (in Hell). I like to think of myself as a seasoned veteran of Diablo 2 and LoD, but this is bordering on ridiculous.

My personal gripes with the new Hell mode difficulty level (monster regen/monster hit points/monster damage increases) aside, if they’re going to make us dependent on drops, we should be able to do more with those drops. Tempering sounds like a good idea. New cube recipes sound like a good idea. What is BETTER than those things would be some serious crafting – I’m talking class specific. We find stuff, we should be able to work with that stuff, not just "equip or mule/throw away".

Back when they introduced crafting, it sounded like a fantastic idea to me. However, in practice, crafting was good for a total of what, one month? I think it was good for a month or two in version 1.08 of Diablo 2 on the realm (don’t quote me on that one, I can’t remember those days so good anymore) before they restricted it. No one even knows why; I guess it was overpowered. The only way my melee Paladin made it to level 85 was because of those crafted class-specific rings I made for him… Then they went and took my fun away. I don't consider the current "caster", "saftey" and "hit power" very useful, nor have I ever. The only thing I ever cared about with crafting was the class specific stuff.

Now-a-days, Hell difficulty is a place where you need every advantage you can get, and the things that were available via crafting aren’t that overpowering and unbalancing as they once were (if they were ever considered that). Considering that not many people were class-specific crafting when it was actually possible to do so, it’s a wonder why they don’t bring it back now. Personally, if I manage to collect a bunch of runes, I’m more likely to craft up something nice, rather than spend even more time looking for a socketed item to put the the aforementioned runes into (if I have the option to do so, that is). That’s just me though; I get a kick out of making truly unique items. I’m a big fan of rares as well, but that’s a whole different story.

What rubs me the wrong way about the current state of crafting, in particular, are the crafted rings, or lack thereof. I mentioned already about my old Realm Paladin that used two crafted rings to handle his opponents; I spent a lot of time in the Ancients Way and those icy type places because of that “cannot be frozen” feature of the ring. I didn’t have to invest in a specific piece of equipment for the cannot be frozen mod; I had it in the best possible spot, with excellent mods to accompany it. It’s not like I just pulled this ring out of thin air either; I had to trade and trade and trade to get enough runes to actually get a good roll. The best ring I ever crafted was a dual leech (can’t remember the percentage) ring, with +1 to paladin skills, cannot be frozen, some mana, and I think it had some fire resist on it. I didn’t need Stones of Jordan, or any other such unique or rare ring; I had the best possible ring for my Paladin.

Now, with all of the difficulty changes in Hell mode, wouldn’t a little bit of variety in jewelry be nice? Sure, rares are back in full force, but there’s nothing like whipping up your very own rare from only the fines herbs and spices. Not to mention they have a nice orange colour to them.

I had quit Diablo 2 right about the time the Lurker Lounge shutdown a couple of years ago. After all, you can only play Diablo 2 for so long before it gets old. The grief players were starting to get to me as well (but that’s not for this discussion). The nice thing with this new patch is that it makes Diablo 2 just different enough to find interesting and fun again. I’m thinking that, if I find a way to manage Hell more so than I can now, I just might get a few more months out of ‘er. With all of the additions and changes and bug fixes, it's just too bad that they didn't bring class specific crafting back. Maybe it was too buggy, or maybe it was too overpowered. In either case, it shouldn't be that way anymore in 1.10...

Bring back the orange!
~JustAGuy

P.S. If there’s a new unique ring that has +1 skills, cannot be frozen, dual leech, and some resists, let me know!