I am providing some clarity regarding my opinions from the Video and my overall view of Metamorphosis. When I showcased how to remove the restrict flag, it was not meant to suggest that I support the outright removal of restrictions. Instead, it was to help bring transparency to the restriction mechanic in the game data and how it is currently hindering PTR in certain aspects. The optimal compromise and possible fix is to have Blizzard remove or negate the Mark buffs in Human form (simultaneously becoming unrestricted), which in turn, applies to anyone capable of using it with shifting capable classes. This would enable the re-casting function that is currently restricted when marked. As it relates to other Melees leveraging Metamorphosis, we have yet to determine what their true intentions are. But if they do want to allow this Runeword to be made in non-Pelts (Druid Only), they need to consider what primary skills for specific characters they would like to enable and what others to restrict. That is, you won't see most other Melee classes going through the trouble of Wereform Mark buffs to leverage only "normal attack."
I hope it was an intentional restriction to not allow other skills with these buffs. and stays this way. imagine 1 point wolf+bear on a wind druid. you buff with metamorphosis, then put on your normal 5nado helm and have +40%hp+20%dr at no cost for 3minutes. completely broken at the cost of 2 skill points. not being able to tele after getting these buffs is a restriction that I hope was intentional. because human characters can take full advantage of an overpowered buff helm otherwise. every beast wearing bvc as well.
Hey Maxim - thanks for the thoughts on this. I agree that there needs to be restrictions vs. entirely open, but it is about finding the right optimized implementation. While Metamorphosis was primarily buffed for the Shapeshifter, restricting them when marked is a bit of a headscratcher. An easy solution is that the marks become inactive in human form as it is today pre-2.6. This solves many problems enabling the re-casting of Battle Orders and teleporting, for example. There is still an open objective question regarding Non-Wereform characters and melee. If Metamorphosis is intended for them, why restrict 100% of their primary attack skills? For example, you will not find any Barbarian, Assassin, or Paladin wanting to mark just for a "normal base attack." It would be utterly pointless. So then I conclude with this thought - was this meant only for Druids, and is this a simple oversight? Why not make this Runeword "Pelts" only? This is the crucial point in my video that I emphasized to bring more transparency to the current PTR implementation in hopes of acquiring more clarity ahead of Season 3. Cheers, and thanks again for watching the video, Maxim.
@@WarTh3ory I agree that the current state is not optimal, and kinda restricts telewolf/bear builds that shift back and forth for tele. imho, the best solution would be to have the buffs only be active in wolf/bear form. this would allow shapeshifters to go back to human form for tele/bo but need to shift back to wolf/bear gain the buffs. I like that the helm is not class specific, I tested in ptr and was able to make it in a barb helm which is pretty cool. and could possibly get wolf buffs with helm swapping a wolfhowl. as niche as it may seem, there are bear sorcs and bear zons, which use beast then swap weapon. so this helm is pretty cool for them. the problem is if non-shapeshifters like windy or bvc can take advantage of this 3 minute buff that remains in human form.
@@nycmaxim689 Agree with much of the above, Maxim. That is a good perspective all around. That is always the objective with these videos - to shine a light on peculiar implementations, surface it to the Devs, and have a community discussion on feedback or open thoughts. Thanks for talking through it friend. Cheers.
It does make you wonder how this made it to the PTR if it wasn't intentional. I found this bug within 5 minutes of the PTR opening to the public, did they do any internal testing? If it was intentional surely that would have been mentioned in the reveal? It basically makes this runeword unusable by most builds 🤷♂️
Hi Illya - Spot on. This is the true million-dollar question, as there was a bunch of initial hype that this was finally the potential new Melee meta, not just for Shifters. Based on Pez's note yesterday, we now have Season 3 date, and we should be receiving the hard patch notes next week. I am sure we will see some color in there....hopefully. Cheers.
Many factions were hoping and expecting this to be available for non-Druid Melee utilization. It seems we must wait and see for more information come updated patch notes ahead of Season 3. Cheers.
Good work on the video, Theory. I think it's worth mentioning that because the mark buffs have a "restrict" flag set, switching forms to teleport to a boss, or re-buff other skills (bo, chant, etc..) only to have to stand around and wait for the buff to expire would be quite annoying to deal with. I don't care if the Devs intended for the marks to do that, cause whether it was or not, it's very clunky. At least in were-forms (which originally have this "restrict" flag), you could just transform out of were-form, and voila restrictive state is gone. With the mark buffs having the restrict flag set, you can't just "cancel" it so you can briefly teleport somewhere, or even cast human skills. In concept I love Metamorphosis, but I'd rather its buffs not ruin the flow of gameplay for me. I think the mark states being unrestricted in combination with them being inactive in human form is the way to go with Metamorphosis.
Thank you for this Shadow - eloquently and articulated exceptionally well. You also nailed it at the end regarding how to think about implementation and compromise. Appreciate you sharing. Cheers, my friend.
@Warth3ory Now that the runeword is officially out with the new season, did they keep it the way it was in PTR? Is it still restricted from casting other skills?
Hey L T, I am trying to confirm this. Not many people have made Meta yet in Season 3. We tested it the day before (Singleplayer), and they 100% removed the restrict states on the offline client-side. However, we need to see it in the wild online to see if there is a server-side control to treat Bnet differently than offline. I will check back in here when I get the answer. Cheers.
@@jeffspectre6767 I will give you a teaser (video) that is coming out...100% of restrict states are removed. Pretty insane as this extends not only to Druids now but all characters.
Moved as fast as we could George! Had a bit of a late start on everything 2.6 & PTR due to IRL craziness. Finally getting around to diving deeper. Thanks for the support.
No. This is exactly how its intended to work. Otherwise every single melee character that can go into bear or wolf form would do it and it would just be terrible game play. Like imagine prebuffing by turning into a bear with beast then hitting an enemy and then unequipping the beast and repeat again every three minutes....it would suck but it would give you 25ias 25cb and 20dr so people would feel obligated to do it. I mean, I don't think it would be that broken because beast is expensive, melee is already underpowered, and it'd be a huge pain in the ass to rebuff every three minutes like this but it just simply wouldn't be fun and it would completely change the meta
I appreciate your thoughts on this Physlift, and thank you for watching the video and sharing them. You and I are both in alignment with the arduous nature of having to swap in/out of gear - that could be better. Food for thought: If the mark restrictions were intended for other Melee characters, why not simply make Metamorphosis a "Pelt" only Runeword? This is a "potential" sign that they wanted optionality for non-Wereform Melee's such as the Barb or Sorc. A piece to not overlook here is that this isn't just about Barbs/Sorcs - this also restricts the gameplay of the Wereform Shapeshifter in certain respects. For example, the inability to re-bo, re-cast things like tap, and teleport if you happen to go that route is a horrible design choice from a gameplay perspective. Additionally, having to wait 3 minutes for the mark to dissipate to do so isn't ideal, especially on the battle orders front, as not, everyone will have a 4+ CTA. Of all the Runewords, this was a big pump for the Shapeshifter, regardless. However, the implementation is likely in the middle and needs some optimization.
@@WarTh3ory Tbh I think that it was just an oversight. They created a whole bunch of helms and probably just threw this in the mix. It's pretty clear from the other new runewords that whoever designed these items wasn't really thinking that deeply about it lol. I welcome the new items but they definitely need to work on the theory behind them....I don't know who designed these current items but they really should've been getting feedback from major players before designing them
@@physlift9175 Appreciate your open mind on this. This type of discovery/feedback is always speculative until we know with more conviction what they ultimately intended to do. Certainly would prefer some QoL over new Runewords, but hey, at least we have some new content right?
Great video as always Theory. All the new runewords are underwhelming in my opinion. I appreciate that the team are trying to explore and make some really different runewords like Metamorphosis and Mosaic, but they're still missing the mark. And after all these years does Diablo II really need more leveling or as I call them 'temporary' runewords like 5 helms?, or more exciting ones aimed more towards higher levels/endgame.
Cheers, mate - I always enjoy making videos that can stimulate community discussion and engagement. Some content is better than nothing, but I prefer to see more of an emphasis on QoL changes, balancing, or, as you stated, some new runewords with more pop. Metamorphosis is still A-Tier from my POV (assuming they optimize the mark restrictions). Mosiac is also compelling, but I find that most Martial Arts Assasins are more than likely to use only 1x vs. 2x. This opens up the question of whether or not 25% is sufficient or if they bump it to 30-35%.
After playing PTR with the metamorphosis rune word. I honestly feel that this buff should be exclusive to druid only. Also the constant switching of wolf to bear to get both buffs I find is somewhat tedious. The Devs should simplify it. Wolf buff for wolf. Bear buff for bear. And yes teleport on SS form should be a thing 👍
Frolan - thank you for this. You touched on something important here, which I attempted to highlight in the video. If you wanted heavy restrictions for non-Druid characters, why not just make this a "Pelt" Druid-only runeword. However, if you plan for others to use it, it does need optimized implementation to enable "specific skills" that can be in an open state while the marks are enabled. I love Metamorphosis, but it is a bit of a headscratcher at this point in time until we hear more from Blizz.
seems intentiional to me. i think the best solution would be to remove the restriction, but also remove the positive effects when not in ware-form. not remove the mark, the mark stays, but it just doesn't do anything until you re-transform in to a bear or a wolf. then no one can abuse it for pre buff, but people can swap to human for other buffs and teleport or whatever
Hey Cho4d - I am aligned with you. My suggestion is not to outright remove the Mark, but it needs modification and optimization to enable different skills in different states. The example in the video of modifying to a blank (zero) was to help highlight to folks what is happening underneath the game data. Many folks wanted to see this for Wolf Barbs and Bear Sorcs - so the real question remains, what were the true intentions when Blizzard pushed this ahead of Season 3. Thanks for dropping by and sharing your feedback.
Gieb teleport in SS form. Pvp would be so awesome with the fcr bp already implemented for shapeshift (and I think they're fair.. perhaps could be slightly lowered, but thats also just a simple numeral input shift. Great vid! Felt like a necessity, but I could see you making awesome videos about... guild halls ;P (new pvp team rankings and gifting through a separate stash! Sigils/banners and clan tags xD. Paid DLC wouldn't bother many of us, but as long as it still allows other players to be in the game where this all happens! edit: feel free to use this idea without crediting it! Guild halls were in the old Lod gamefiles, too ^__^ so you can inspire yourself or toss a few references from what they had already created.
Thanks for the thoughts and feedback Eziel. Definitely will be interesting to see any position Blizzard takes on the PvP vs. PvM restriction states relating to Metamorphosis. Have also heard/read about Guild Halls from the LoD game files - believe Xtimus and or others have touched on these previously. Certainly can always look into it for new fun content. Cheers!
My bro...always the first mover on a lot of these topics...just a little bit technically sound than the rest of us... I'd like to consider myself decent at code but horrible at cable management... I'll blame the cable management on my music background 😂🤣
Dartlin, I wish I could always take all the credit, but fortunate to have a close-knit community and inner circle that continues to pick up interesting nuggets. Thanks for watching and the kind words friend.
If they can fix Metamorphosis properly with the right restrict state implementation, it will be a significant boost to the Shapeshifter. If they do allow this to be leveraged on other non-Druid Melee's it can provide buff balancing. But yes overall across the board, these were not game breaking. Let's see if we get any type of functional QoL when they drop 2.6 notes this week. Cheers Elijah.
They weren't exciting they all were trash more prebuffing they aren't going to fix thus you can't bo or teleport normally in bear form so it's not happening
Very well could be spot on Wuldntuliktono - hard to say with the devs and PTR. That is why I make these types of videos, and folks surface into forums in hopes of getting the appropriate attention. Thanks for stopping by - cheers.
![Which Witcher School Are You? [The Lore Of Every Witcher School]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Fj8wWsfyG-A/mqdefault.jpg)
I am providing some clarity regarding my opinions from the Video and my overall view of Metamorphosis. When I showcased how to remove the restrict flag, it was not meant to suggest that I support the outright removal of restrictions. Instead, it was to help bring transparency to the restriction mechanic in the game data and how it is currently hindering PTR in certain aspects.
The optimal compromise and possible fix is to have Blizzard remove or negate the Mark buffs in Human form (simultaneously becoming unrestricted), which in turn, applies to anyone capable of using it with shifting capable classes. This would enable the re-casting function that is currently restricted when marked.
As it relates to other Melees leveraging Metamorphosis, we have yet to determine what their true intentions are. But if they do want to allow this Runeword to be made in non-Pelts (Druid Only), they need to consider what primary skills for specific characters they would like to enable and what others to restrict. That is, you won't see most other Melee classes going through the trouble of Wereform Mark buffs to leverage only "normal attack."
I hope it was an intentional restriction to not allow other skills with these buffs. and stays this way.
imagine 1 point wolf+bear on a wind druid. you buff with metamorphosis, then put on your normal 5nado helm and have +40%hp+20%dr at no cost for 3minutes. completely broken at the cost of 2 skill points.
not being able to tele after getting these buffs is a restriction that I hope was intentional. because human characters can take full advantage of an overpowered buff helm otherwise. every beast wearing bvc as well.
Hey Maxim - thanks for the thoughts on this. I agree that there needs to be restrictions vs. entirely open, but it is about finding the right optimized implementation.
While Metamorphosis was primarily buffed for the Shapeshifter, restricting them when marked is a bit of a headscratcher. An easy solution is that the marks become inactive in human form as it is today pre-2.6. This solves many problems enabling the re-casting of Battle Orders and teleporting, for example.
There is still an open objective question regarding Non-Wereform characters and melee. If Metamorphosis is intended for them, why restrict 100% of their primary attack skills? For example, you will not find any Barbarian, Assassin, or Paladin wanting to mark just for a "normal base attack." It would be utterly pointless.
So then I conclude with this thought - was this meant only for Druids, and is this a simple oversight? Why not make this Runeword "Pelts" only? This is the crucial point in my video that I emphasized to bring more transparency to the current PTR implementation in hopes of acquiring more clarity ahead of Season 3.
Cheers, and thanks again for watching the video, Maxim.
@@WarTh3ory I agree that the current state is not optimal, and kinda restricts telewolf/bear builds that shift back and forth for tele.
imho, the best solution would be to have the buffs only be active in wolf/bear form.
this would allow shapeshifters to go back to human form for tele/bo but need to shift back to wolf/bear gain the buffs.
I like that the helm is not class specific, I tested in ptr and was able to make it in a barb helm which is pretty cool. and could possibly get wolf buffs with helm swapping a wolfhowl.
as niche as it may seem, there are bear sorcs and bear zons, which use beast then swap weapon. so this helm is pretty cool for them.
the problem is if non-shapeshifters like windy or bvc can take advantage of this 3 minute buff that remains in human form.
@@nycmaxim689 Agree with much of the above, Maxim. That is a good perspective all around. That is always the objective with these videos - to shine a light on peculiar implementations, surface it to the Devs, and have a community discussion on feedback or open thoughts. Thanks for talking through it friend. Cheers.
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The Dark Knight my dude - the watchful protector. Cheers my friend.
It does make you wonder how this made it to the PTR if it wasn't intentional. I found this bug within 5 minutes of the PTR opening to the public, did they do any internal testing? If it was intentional surely that would have been mentioned in the reveal? It basically makes this runeword unusable by most builds 🤷♂️
Hi Illya - Spot on. This is the true million-dollar question, as there was a bunch of initial hype that this was finally the potential new Melee meta, not just for Shifters. Based on Pez's note yesterday, we now have Season 3 date, and we should be receiving the hard patch notes next week. I am sure we will see some color in there....hopefully. Cheers.
excitement is destroyed. meta: dead on arrival
Many factions were hoping and expecting this to be available for non-Druid Melee utilization. It seems we must wait and see for more information come updated patch notes ahead of Season 3. Cheers.
Good work on the video, Theory.
I think it's worth mentioning that because the mark buffs have a "restrict" flag set, switching forms to teleport to a boss, or re-buff other skills (bo, chant, etc..) only to have to stand around and wait for the buff to expire would be quite annoying to deal with.
I don't care if the Devs intended for the marks to do that, cause whether it was or not, it's very clunky.
At least in were-forms (which originally have this "restrict" flag), you could just transform out of were-form, and voila restrictive state is gone. With the mark buffs having the restrict flag set, you can't just "cancel" it so you can briefly teleport somewhere, or even cast human skills.
In concept I love Metamorphosis, but I'd rather its buffs not ruin the flow of gameplay for me.
I think the mark states being unrestricted in combination with them being inactive in human form is the way to go with Metamorphosis.
Thank you for this Shadow - eloquently and articulated exceptionally well. You also nailed it at the end regarding how to think about implementation and compromise. Appreciate you sharing. Cheers, my friend.
@Warth3ory Now that the runeword is officially out with the new season, did they keep it the way it was in PTR? Is it still restricted from casting other skills?
Hey L T, I am trying to confirm this. Not many people have made Meta yet in Season 3. We tested it the day before (Singleplayer), and they 100% removed the restrict states on the offline client-side. However, we need to see it in the wild online to see if there is a server-side control to treat Bnet differently than offline. I will check back in here when I get the answer. Cheers.
@@WarTh3ory Thanks mate! Keep me posted if you find out.
@@WarTh3ory any updates?
@@jeffspectre6767 I will give you a teaser (video) that is coming out...100% of restrict states are removed. Pretty insane as this extends not only to Druids now but all characters.
@@WarTh3ory Thank you! Much appreciated!
Thanks for finding this first!
Moved as fast as we could George! Had a bit of a late start on everything 2.6 & PTR due to IRL craziness. Finally getting around to diving deeper. Thanks for the support.
No. This is exactly how its intended to work. Otherwise every single melee character that can go into bear or wolf form would do it and it would just be terrible game play. Like imagine prebuffing by turning into a bear with beast then hitting an enemy and then unequipping the beast and repeat again every three minutes....it would suck but it would give you 25ias 25cb and 20dr so people would feel obligated to do it. I mean, I don't think it would be that broken because beast is expensive, melee is already underpowered, and it'd be a huge pain in the ass to rebuff every three minutes like this but it just simply wouldn't be fun and it would completely change the meta
I appreciate your thoughts on this Physlift, and thank you for watching the video and sharing them. You and I are both in alignment with the arduous nature of having to swap in/out of gear - that could be better. Food for thought: If the mark restrictions were intended for other Melee characters, why not simply make Metamorphosis a "Pelt" only Runeword? This is a "potential" sign that they wanted optionality for non-Wereform Melee's such as the Barb or Sorc.
A piece to not overlook here is that this isn't just about Barbs/Sorcs - this also restricts the gameplay of the Wereform Shapeshifter in certain respects. For example, the inability to re-bo, re-cast things like tap, and teleport if you happen to go that route is a horrible design choice from a gameplay perspective. Additionally, having to wait 3 minutes for the mark to dissipate to do so isn't ideal, especially on the battle orders front, as not, everyone will have a 4+ CTA.
Of all the Runewords, this was a big pump for the Shapeshifter, regardless. However, the implementation is likely in the middle and needs some optimization.
@@WarTh3ory Tbh I think that it was just an oversight. They created a whole bunch of helms and probably just threw this in the mix. It's pretty clear from the other new runewords that whoever designed these items wasn't really thinking that deeply about it lol. I welcome the new items but they definitely need to work on the theory behind them....I don't know who designed these current items but they really should've been getting feedback from major players before designing them
@@physlift9175 Appreciate your open mind on this. This type of discovery/feedback is always speculative until we know with more conviction what they ultimately intended to do. Certainly would prefer some QoL over new Runewords, but hey, at least we have some new content right?
Fixing the game for the devs 1 video at a time 😎
Just your neighborhood-friendly Warth3ory protecting the gates of Sanctuary Shady Geek.
Great video as always Theory.
All the new runewords are underwhelming in my opinion. I appreciate that the team are trying to explore and make some really different runewords like Metamorphosis and Mosaic, but they're still missing the mark.
And after all these years does Diablo II really need more leveling or as I call them 'temporary' runewords like 5 helms?, or more exciting ones aimed more towards higher levels/endgame.
Cheers, mate - I always enjoy making videos that can stimulate community discussion and engagement.
Some content is better than nothing, but I prefer to see more of an emphasis on QoL changes, balancing, or, as you stated, some new runewords with more pop. Metamorphosis is still A-Tier from my POV (assuming they optimize the mark restrictions). Mosiac is also compelling, but I find that most Martial Arts Assasins are more than likely to use only 1x vs. 2x. This opens up the question of whether or not 25% is sufficient or if they bump it to 30-35%.
After playing PTR with the metamorphosis rune word. I honestly feel that this buff should be exclusive to druid only. Also the constant switching of wolf to bear to get both buffs I find is somewhat tedious. The Devs should simplify it. Wolf buff for wolf. Bear buff for bear. And yes teleport on SS form should be a thing 👍
Frolan - thank you for this. You touched on something important here, which I attempted to highlight in the video. If you wanted heavy restrictions for non-Druid characters, why not just make this a "Pelt" Druid-only runeword.
However, if you plan for others to use it, it does need optimized implementation to enable "specific skills" that can be in an open state while the marks are enabled.
I love Metamorphosis, but it is a bit of a headscratcher at this point in time until we hear more from Blizz.
seems intentiional to me. i think the best solution would be to remove the restriction, but also remove the positive effects when not in ware-form. not remove the mark, the mark stays, but it just doesn't do anything until you re-transform in to a bear or a wolf. then no one can abuse it for pre buff, but people can swap to human for other buffs and teleport or whatever
Hey Cho4d - I am aligned with you. My suggestion is not to outright remove the Mark, but it needs modification and optimization to enable different skills in different states. The example in the video of modifying to a blank (zero) was to help highlight to folks what is happening underneath the game data.
Many folks wanted to see this for Wolf Barbs and Bear Sorcs - so the real question remains, what were the true intentions when Blizzard pushed this ahead of Season 3.
Thanks for dropping by and sharing your feedback.
Gieb teleport in SS form. Pvp would be so awesome with the fcr bp already implemented for shapeshift (and I think they're fair.. perhaps could be slightly lowered, but thats also just a simple numeral input shift. Great vid! Felt like a necessity, but I could see you making awesome videos about... guild halls ;P (new pvp team rankings and gifting through a separate stash! Sigils/banners and clan tags xD. Paid DLC wouldn't bother many of us, but as long as it still allows other players to be in the game where this all happens! edit: feel free to use this idea without crediting it! Guild halls were in the old Lod gamefiles, too ^__^ so you can inspire yourself or toss a few references from what they had already created.
Thanks for the thoughts and feedback Eziel. Definitely will be interesting to see any position Blizzard takes on the PvP vs. PvM restriction states relating to Metamorphosis.
Have also heard/read about Guild Halls from the LoD game files - believe Xtimus and or others have touched on these previously. Certainly can always look into it for new fun content. Cheers!
My bro...always the first mover on a lot of these topics...just a little bit technically sound than the rest of us... I'd like to consider myself decent at code but horrible at cable management... I'll blame the cable management on my music background 😂🤣
Dartlin, I wish I could always take all the credit, but fortunate to have a close-knit community and inner circle that continues to pick up interesting nuggets. Thanks for watching and the kind words friend.
You seem like the guy to ask how to dupe :p
I can neither confirm nor deny and plead the fifth... Cheers Croissant - thanks for watching the video.
all the new runewords are very forgettable
If they can fix Metamorphosis properly with the right restrict state implementation, it will be a significant boost to the Shapeshifter. If they do allow this to be leveraged on other non-Druid Melee's it can provide buff balancing. But yes overall across the board, these were not game breaking. Let's see if we get any type of functional QoL when they drop 2.6 notes this week. Cheers Elijah.
Well said :)
Thank you, friend - always fun to highlight little nuggets.
haha, hope they give you a full-time job soon 😅
Always trying to keep things spicy Sango. Good to see you, brother. Hope you are well.
They weren't exciting they all were trash more prebuffing they aren't going to fix thus you can't bo or teleport normally in bear form so it's not happening
Very well could be spot on Wuldntuliktono - hard to say with the devs and PTR. That is why I make these types of videos, and folks surface into forums in hopes of getting the appropriate attention. Thanks for stopping by - cheers.