Supporter newsletter 48

Issue
This is a copy of Eternal and Diamond Supporter Newsletter #48, published by Grinding Gear Games.

Hey Diamond, Eternal and Unique Item Creator Supporters,

This week is a busy week preparing 1.0.6 while also working on 1.1.0 content.

We are all getting excited for 1.1.0 in the office, and are looking forward to when more information has been made public in mid-February.

Rory and I are very busy this week. Both of us are also away next week (Rory is also getting married next week), so we may be slow to reply to emails and PMs.

1.0.6 Uniques

As this patch will be based around Summoners, there will be a bit of a summoner theme in the unique items also. Two are explicitly summoner unique items, and one would certainly be of interest to summoners. There are many more Summoner themed supporter unique items still coming, so we apologize if your item couldn’t get in this patch.

Robustness - Items and the Metagame

The design of a unique item can be very metagame dependant. Often supporters want items to fit a very specific niche, and design an item to provide very specific mods and powers. Such an item can often be very powerful, but then become much less powerful as elements of the game change. If you make an item which takes specific advantage of certain abilities, and relies very specifically on reaching certain numbers, you may need to be aware that it will be vulnerable to metagame changes.

We quite like these very specific items, but it is important that they have something that makes them robust or allows them to work with more than one build.

An example of robust unique would be. It provides some core survivability in the form of life, and an offensive bonus for area of effect. While its precise power may wax and wane a little, life and area of effect will always be useful to some degree.

is an example of a very metagame dependant item. At times this has been incredibly powerful, and at times very bad. It is wholly dependant on very specific mechanics.

is an example of an item that straddles the line somewhat. It is never going to be a terrible item as it provides some core defenses, but its power level will change as the mechanics it relies on change. It can sometimes fall into being very powerful, and sometimes is merely good. This item is perhaps a little too dangerous for us.

We try to avoid items that restrain design decisions by themselves. Some mechanics can limit our designs for other items and skills, as they become too powerful when certain other things change.

Insider Info

This week I thought I’d ask the developers what games they are playing (other than Path of Exile). Here is a list of people I could track down this morning to ask, in alphabetical order.

Andrew - Nether, Starbound, Fallout 3

Andy - Hearthstone, Hex: Shards of Fate, League of Legends

Blake - Farcry 3, Minecraft

Brian - Solforge, Magic the Gathering Online

Campbell - DOTA 2

Carl - Solforge, Anno 2070, Netrunner, AC4 - Black Flag

Chris - Solforge, Rapala Pro Bass Fishing, Reel Fishing: Angler’s Dream

Daniel - Civilization 5, Grim Dawn

Erik - Outlast, Heroes of Newerth

Eunyoung - Candy Crush Saga

Harry - Deus Ex

Jonathan - Civilization 4, Phoenix Wright

Mark - Netrunner, Faeria, Valdis Story, Pokemon X, Pokemon Y (Nunzlocke), Monster Hunter 4, Hoplite, Ridiculous Fishing

Mark2 - DOTA 2, Day Z

Mike - Fallout:New Vegas, Minecraft

Rhys - Monster Hunter 4, 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors, Broken Sword 1

Rory - Borderlands 2, Broken Age, Hammerwatch, Starbound

Russell - Rust, Mount and Blade: Warband (Floris mod), Day Z, Hex: Shards of Fate, DOTA 2

Saveun - Fez, The Puppeteer

Thomas - X-Com, Skyrim, Hero Academy