Divzer Update Locks It To Etw With -defense

I thought I'd make a thread about this too; it's a big change to how you can use an expensive and sought after item that affects a lot of people who might not read the item changelogs.

This is nearly the same as the proposed update from last November, which was quickly reverted to not having -defense. This is that divzer:

The only big difference is that the divzer that was already cancelled had more +dex, more than double the raw spell, and only 1 +tier.

I think this change is really terrible for divzer mains, and worse than the previous proposed change in 2019. It locks divzer into an incredibly niche and specific archetype that most players would otherwise choose not to use. ETW sees little use, and when combined with archer's low base defense it means that you are going to be incredibly glassy. I don't think there is any other popular weapon that locks you into a single build type like this. It's made worse by the fact that this is the same item update that vastly improves quad support, which divzer will never get to try.

Not only does divzer lock you into ETW, but it tries incredibly hard to make you use fast hybrid (shooting arrows at superfast speed in order to proc mana steal and lifesteal). This makes it much harder to maintain mana while also shooting a high volume of spells. Even if you can click fast, by adding extra required clicks and timing for the melee shots every quarter of a second it becomes impossible to shoot out the same number of spells as with slow spellsteal. Some people may prefer fast hybrid, and that's fine. However, we should not all be forced into using it if we want to use divzer. The new +tiers make it much harder to cancel divzer's tiers if you want to use superslow melee for steals, especially when combined with the -defense change. It's made worse by the fact that the attack tier roll is getting added to already existing divzers, some of which will now be unable to reach superslow in non-tailored builds. Let's look over the possible choices for ETW or its sub elements:

Spoiler: The -tier items

Shaggy Boots: with -7 to -13 attack speed, this is the easiest fit for slowing divzer down. A +4 divzer needs -10 tiers to slow down, so an average tier roll shaggy will be able to handle it. A +1 divzer can be slowed even by the worst roll shaggy at -7.

Bete Noire: A relatively unused item with no powder slots and a base 2 mana steal roll, bete is getting its -tiers reduced to -5 to -9. Matching a bete noire with 3/4 mana steal (or at least 2/4) and high spell% with your existing divzer is very roll dependent, especially considering your existing [4] divzer might end up being +3 or +4 (+4 isn't even possible to cancel with bete alone). Bete also has a very high 80 str req, making it harder to fit in.

Struggle: Another underused item that's getting a couple spell buffs, like removing its negative int and getting mana steal. Struggle has -4 to -8 tiers and, like bete, also has a base 2 mana steal roll. Now your divzer has to be only +1 or +2 to be cancelled by a -7 or -8 struggle.

Nychtemeron: A new item, it has -7 to -13 tiers and base 2 mana steal (see a pattern?). It's also a good fit like shaggy, though the str req is much higher.

Atlas: With -6 to -10 attack speed and a base 2 mana steal roll your previously useful atlas will need a decent roll to match with a decent roll attack speed on divzer.

That's all the possible items. Did you expect more? Removing access to defense cuts tenuto, darksteel full helm, coal duster, and dawnbreak out of the picture. You may have thought atlas was meta before, but now it has even more reason to be used.

Of course, you can use 2 -tier gears together to counteract a divzer with bad rolls, but that's removing a lot of other options for your build. Overall I'd expect atlas and shaggy boots to be the main, nearly required options for a good superslow spellsteal divzer build. These changes remove tons of options from building divzer and severely restrict its possible playstyles.

Another note is that divzer is already getting indirectly nerfed through the nighthawk nerf to 80% per arrow. Assuming this info from the item team thread is accurate, then that's a 33% nerf to its arrow storm damage.

So if you don't want to get locked into glassy ETW with very limited playstyle options, sell your divzer now. Or hope that the item team (again) reverts the -defense change (and hopefully the +tier change too) so that we can use divzer in a wider variety of builds.

 

You're aware you can still use items with an agi or def requirement, right? That only affects the effect of the skillpoints, not the cost regarding equips.

 

No one who posts a thread with this much detail is not aware of this (though it's an important note for others I suppose). Practically speaking, this locks Divzer into ETW. I agree with the OP that it's a horrible change.

 

Yes, I can still invest 40 defense to use tenuto, 45 to use darksteel guillotine/phantasmagoria(agi) or coal duster, or 75 to use dawnbreak. I guess if I use dawnbreak I'll still have 2 defense left over at least, but no room for str or int.

The playstyle remains restricted and it's incredibly wasteful to have to use defense req items when i have -73 defense.

 

To be fair Archer got arrow shield which just protects you though
like you can just refresh shield when gone. But this divzer change definitely is annoying, I would say something like -10 defense or -25, so it still allows some defense but discourages defense

 

It’s like playing agility build without dodging nor walk speed at the gain of high damage
All that while using fast hybrid
Sound like divzer is not gonna be really desired in higher content anymore due to archer low base def, even with 10k health gonna get one shotted due to random thing... it’s gonna be pretty interesting to see how this is going to turn out

 

yes

 

But then you waste 50+ sp on a stat that just gets cancelled out. It ceases to be worth the effort

 

and I wanted to buy a Divzer, I'm glad that I didn't have the money to do it lol

 

Same here lol

 

rip my favourite build in the game

 

At least when I use divzer now I’ll know that I have the biggest balls in Wynn

 

I'm glad I ditched divzer with an extremely low cost at the time of selling (above average div for 5 stx when average is 7 stx)
now it's pretty much worthless unless someone really likes ETW

 

The new divzer change is pretty bad, it means that Divzer will likely not be a part of the 1.20 meta at all because it is locked into ETW. The only real use divzer will probably have in the future is to look nice in people's banks, or to be used for no-hit li/eo/raid challenges, and even then, gma is probably still better.

 

Question: Yall even actually tried it?

 

I built with it. It's good in ETW, and I really like the +tiers design (in theory - in practice, that part isn't really usable since it's locked into ETW and fast hybrid has no viable support), but ETW is not good enough to make it good in general.

 

i have, have you?

 

Yes, at length, and extensively. And yes, I was glassy as shit. But I was also killing other things with great efficiency such that it didn't even matter, and building sustain with defense(even with -73) gave me juuust enough survivability that one mistake wasn't the end and that I could bounce back without having to guzzle potions much.

 

Divzer will definitely be a lot more skill based now. No EHP is almost crippling for anyone who makes mistakes during fights. Also RIP Divzer vs Qira/Panic Zealot.

EDIT=Divzer is officially glassier than Cata. With the Nighthawk nerfs, also deal significantly less damage than it too. All hail King Cata.

 

Well if you like that style than just create a new damn item. No need to completely alter the SP of a mythic some people have spent their entire savings on. Please revert this change before the full update or else the countless hours of loot running and marketing for many people will all be for a waste.