One Button Builds
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Was watching an interview with Jonathan talking about how he was fine with 1 button builds in endgame but not during the Campaign, while also talking about how it's hard to make 2 buttons and combos feel better than 1 that wipes the screen. So I ask you this:
How do we make combo'd skills feel as good as single button press? What would need to be different for you to like it? I know the solution is out there and exists, but I don't know what it is. In PoE1 I WANTED to use more skills, but everything was such a clusterfuck that if you went Toxic Rain, all of your passive points are in projectile, phys and chaos, and only a bow user would get the luxury of another 6 link. You're also forced into picking something that synergizes with what you're already doing with Chaos/Phys/Projectile, So whatever that skill is can't just be a worse DPS version of what you're already doing like Caustic arrow, you're not going to waste frames casting something unless its a DPS increase or buffs your main skill somehow, which mostly came down to reservation auras anyway since skills weren't made to interact. Their intention with giving you freedom to use more skills is good, but how do we make that feel good? I think part of the answer involves enemy states and statuses like Freeze. Like shooting a frozen target with a physical skill doing 200% damage turning your little fwip fwips into a meaty chonk feels pretty good, but there must be other ways. Last bumped on Aug 24, 2025, 2:00:07 PM
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" slow down combat or reduce damage spikes, and you must remove insta heal. otherwise the 'multi button' concept is a non-starter simply due to how fast you die if you don't kill mobs |
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" How would slowing down combat make 2 button combos more satisfying? I feel that would do the opposite. Most games with slower combat that's still satisfying involve things like charge-up mechanics, like MH's greatsword. If there was a skill in PoE that let you just sit there charging an infinite amount of stages then loose a big swing that just one-shots whatever you're fighting I could see that working with status skills that CC for safety. |
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" i think it wasn't clear what i wrote: slow down combat or reduce damage spikes- this is to allow you to even execute two skills without dying. i once had a aoe skill to CC with slows, but eventually had to convert it to a damage dealer and spam it just to survive majority of encounters removing insta heal is a must if any of the above are implemented to make sure player is not immortal. |
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Playing late-game builds with one button or with four buttons makes no difference because everything explodes, so there is no meaningful gameplay either way. That is why I don't see differences between classes. If we assume all classes will be playable at the end, the choice of class won't matter except in the campaign, where you actually make tactical decisions.
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" Maybe I'm missing the point here. If I'm doing a two combo skill that gives me an extra 100% damage vs 1 move skill, I think that would make me feel good. So essentially for me, as long as the damage increases makes sense, then it feels good. Or are you asking the actual animation of doing a combo like in a fighting game, ie Tekken? Last edited by BigBoom9240#8803 on Aug 23, 2025, 7:42:56 PM
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" >actual animation of doing a combo No, I'm mostly talking about speed of execution and time taken. Like in PoE1 one of the zoom builds a friend of mine used was a fire based Kinetic blast, where he could dash around 1tapping the screen in a single cast, clearing all of blood aquaducts in like 20 seconds, (though it sucked for bosses) If we have to combo skills instead, we have to sit still for 2 casts instead of 1, which interrupts the flow. The question is how to keep the flow feeling natural and fun while using a combo of skills. |
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Designing skills that can weave together based on the simple contextual need of the combat. So for instance if a squishy high mobility character gets swarmed they can quickly use a disengage skill to put distance between themselves and the enemies. then start blasting with ranged attacks, or place a life steal and plus aoe modifier on a gap closer attack and re-engage. A tanky character might use a warcry that fears enemies and makes them run away, place a "added damage to feared enemies" modifier on a shield charge and chase them down.
It shouldn't be about baked in combo mechanics, it should just be common sense thinking, "I need to get to safety", "now I need single target damage", "now I need AOE", "now I need a gap closer". You can have one of each of these on your skill bar already. But you can't do any decent damage with them unless you're also generating charges or using somekind of setup and pay-off combo. In the end this is entirely pointless feedback because the campaigns too long, the maps are too big and there's too many enemies. So people will understandably gravitate to the lightning spear solution every league. Because that's how the game was designed. If GGG don't admit they messed up big time, every league will just be an community effort to find the best one button build. This game is extremely buggered. |
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" that's an odd assumption. who said you have to sit still? do one skill that does either CC, debuffs, or creates a buff for you, then do another skill or few that does some damage and then another that wipes all remaining mobs. The steps also vary depending on mob type and terrain. this is currently possible in poe2 (i have 2 chars like that), but you will die in most maps, and in all deli/breach encounters (explanation is above). only place to utilize this is during boss encounters, but you have to get to the boss through the hordes... so most of your play time will be one-button spam |
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It's impossible to attempt a skill rotation on maps where mobs are possessed by tazmanian devils and gangbang you in seconds, from off screen too, so you are forced to 1 button build in order to kill them before they kill you.
Maps arent slow paced, they have to realize that before asking players to attempt skill rotations n stuff. Bosses are the only fights where you can do that somehow but in some cases player's power is so high that you simply one tap bosses too, because it's cooler to do so rather than play mechanics. This is on their hands, cant pretend i go slow and calm when everything around me is exactly the opposite. Last edited by IILU81II#8410 on Aug 23, 2025, 10:46:32 PM
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