I’ve dedicated the past half-hour to pondering the intricacies of the new gem system, and I’m struggling to discern the exact direction the developers intend with this change. The shift appears somewhat perplexing to me.
The only interpretation that seems plausible to me is that when they mention “ALL,” they are exclusively referring to elemental damage. In this scenario, it would suggest a reversal in how elemental gems function, and that would indeed make sense.
Before, with a Tier 4 Gem, you could convert 50% of your damage to elemental, and this 50% damage was adjusted based on your total weapon damage and elemental bonuses.
On the PTR, however, the Tier 4 Gem still converts 50% of your damage to elemental, but the significant change is that the 50% elemental damage now scales primarily with your INT attribute (Intellect).
This revised approach is the only one that aligns with my understanding, as it retains the essence of the previous system but encourages builds that emphasize either INT or FOC (Focus) without relying on weapons that don’t scale with these attributes.
For instance, in the old system, you had a hammer dealing 1000 damage points. When you inserted a Tier 4 Ruby, the hammer would yield 500 fire damage and 500 strike damage, enhanced by elemental bonuses from INT. Most players would opt for a balanced allocation of stats between STR and INT, resulting in the hammer dealing approximately 750 fire damage and 800 strike damage, with 100 INT and 150 STR.
On the PTR, if you possess a hammer with 1000 damage points and equip a Tier 4 Ruby, it would still generate 500 fire damage and 500 strike damage. However, rather than splitting your stats, you’d invest all your points in INT. Consequently, the 500 fire damage would scale by 90% of your INT, resulting in, let’s say, 750 fire damage and 500 strike damage with 100 INT. This negates the need to allocate points to STR, as the elemental damage now scales higher than STR. This new approach could lead to builds that solely rely on INT and CON for weapons like Sword and Shield or Hammer.
(Note: The numerical values in the examples are hypothetical and serve to illustrate the concept.)
I genuinely hope the actual implementation aligns with one of these examples, as if they opt to make all damage types scale with INT or FOC, including non-elemental damage, it could potentially create significant balance issues. The prospect of a healer wielding a Greataxe dealing damage comparable to a full STR build but only with FOC is rather unsettling. In such a scenario, I might consider uninstalling and spending more time outdoors.
Nevertheless, the purpose of the PTR is to gather feedback and address potential concerns, so let’s hope the developers receive valuable input and make adjustments if necessary. By the way, cheap New World gold coins on MMOexp.com, related New World topic here: Efficient Strategies for Advancing Your Expertise in New World