Potential Changes to Determination: Impact on Melee Builds

The 3.16 patch in Path of Exile introduced significant changes to armor, potentially aiming to rebalance physical damage interactions and restore the viability of melee builds.

### The Potential Impact of Determination's Armor Changes on Melee Builds in Path of Exile
* 💼  Determination underwent a significant buff in the 3.16 Scourge League, making it a staple for **nearly 41% of all builds** in the subsequent leagues.
* 🛡️  This change greatly increased the effectiveness of armor, which had previously been **underutilized as a defensive mechanic**.
* 🗡️  Coincidentally, melee builds began to **decline in popularity** after 3.16, with the Gladiator Ascendancy particularly **affected**.
* 🔄  The recent announcement of a "Nerf" to Determination's armor effect has led to speculation about **potential rebalancing of physical damage and melee builds**.
* 🔙  Some believe this change may be an attempt to **revert the game back to a state where melee builds were more viable**, similar to 3.15 and earlier versions.
* 🧰  This could involve reworking various skills and mechanics to bring **melee builds back into the meta**.
* ❓  The community is divided on whether this speculation is **realistic hope** or just **wishful thinking**, but many are eager for improvements to melee gameplay.
* 👾  These potential changes could have a **significant impact on Path of Exile's meta**, especially as players anticipate the release of **Path of Exile 2**.

In 3.16, reservation effects such as Heralds and auras pass through death. Welcome back Exiles! So in the most recent reveal, we noticed that determination appears to be receiving somewhat of a Nerf, but I think there might actually be more to this than what meets the eye, so let's talk about that. Okay, so firstly, if you want more details around the state of determination and the impact of the change potentially, definitely check out SirGog's video from a few days ago covering this, and I'll put a link in the description of that video. But long story short, in 3.16 Scourge League, GGG did a massive overhaul to defenses which turned determination from being a pretty bad skill into a staple for almost every single build in the game that runs armor. The way the patch notes read are as follows from the 3.16 Scourge League, essentially previously, if you had 10,000 armor and you took a hit that dealt 2,000 physical damage, you'd reduce that

hit by 33% now. You after the 3.6 3.16 patch notes, that reduction to damage would be the equivalent of 50%. So, it was a pretty significant recalibration of the overall armor stat. And without going into any details, basically made armor a highly effective piece of Kit to have on any build. In fact, so effective that over 41% of all builds in the 3.24 league were running it. So, at about the same time, melee builds started to really drop off after 3.16 coincidentally. And what's also a coincidence is that in 3.16, the Gladiator ascendency rework was introduced, which also introduced versatile combatant changes to try and make block a more equal spread of a defense stat as opposed to what it previously was, which was one of the truest forms of block in the game. And this is what made the Gladiator really powerful. To give a bit of context, previously in the 3.15 league, the

Gladiator was in the top three spread of ascending season. This comes from an older video from Sir Gog from back in that League, and now it's down to roundabouts an average of 0.4% played by where we currently are in the league across both 3.23 and the 3.24 leagues. So coming back around full circle here, why do I think that there might be more to this determination armor change than what meets the eye? So for a number of leagues now, some of the strongest iterations of melee builds have in fact been based off of armor stacking. Now there's a lot of different melee builds in the game, but very few that work as well as armor stacked melee builds. This is definitely one of the most viable ways to push down in delve, and there are a few exceptions to this rule like flicker strike Slayers or bone shatter, but generally it turns into a situation where you have to stack stats. And for anyone who has played stacking builds, number one, they're not

cheap number two they're not easy to get into for newer players. I suspect the change to armor is also a way that g are looking to rebalance the way that physical damage interacts with both the players and the enemies. And in fact, this was the case with the changes in 3.16 around the introduction of overwhelm. And so, potentially they might be looking at walking this back a bit to restore mely to what it previously was back in 3.15 and earlier. It's sort of like walking back a patch after many leagues after realizing hey this just didn't work and there was no way to really balance it current iteration of the game. And so, realistically they need to revert it back to an older form of the game in order to fix the current Meely crisis that we've been having for quite a number of leagues now. I also suspect that walking back some of these changes will allow them to rebalance some of the underlying base min max values on the physical damage skills and Mele skills.

that are currently in the game, and so we might actually be seeing a pretty significant rework across a number of skills to bring them up to par and to bring them up to par. This would actually mean bringing the game back a little bit around its defensive stats and modifiers from a physical damage side of things, which will sort of equalize the problem and potentially bring melee back up to a playable state, 'cause currently it just isn't there. Now, on the side of my speculation around a gladiator rework, it would totally make sense if they're changing the way that armor works. Potentially, they'll also reintroduce a rid more original forms of block back into the game and maybe even look to reinstitute old ascendency points that used to exist in the Gladiator before they actually reworked it and essentially bricked that ascendancy forever in a day. So, the real question here then is am I huffing the biggest amount of copium that I have ever huffed ever, or am I just really

excited at the prospect of seeing that well if they're changing armor or reverting armor back to a previous state, and they did exactly this with righteous Fire to bring it back to its original state a few leagues ago. Then maybe there might be hope that we will get to play melee in what will likely be one of the last leagues that we play before PoE2 comes out in open beta and will most likely put all of our attention into the new game and much less into the old game. I for one would like to believe that my theory might be on some sort of track and get GED up about it, but I'm really hoping that if not, if it's not the way that I sort of present it here, that we get some sort of Middle Ground to bring it back and allow us to play melee again. And for God Almighty's sake, I would love to play Gladiator characters again in the game. They were fantastic fun with lerate Max block characters back in the day, especially when sorus first came out.

and I'd love to relive that. Take Ubers down and just absolutely face tanking every hit that comes at me. Anyway, if you like this type of video and you're also on the copium that I'm on, AKA we're going to rename it hopium, that we're going to get melee Buffs in one of the last few leagues before pee2 comes out. Don't forget to like and sub to the channel and the video, and also don't forget to follow the twitch, and until next time, I'll see you guys later and have a good one.

Is Melee Finally Getting Buffed in Path of Exile 3.25 League Settlers of Kalguur?

Jorgen

16 Patch on Determination and Armor in the Scourge League

16 patch had a significant impact on the determination skill, increasing its effectiveness and making it a staple for almost every build running armor.

This led to over 41% of all builds in the 3.

24 league using it, coinciding with a drop-off in melee builds.

The patch also introduced changes to the Gladiator ascendency, making block a more equal spread of a defense stat, which significantly increased the Gladiator's power.

The Impact of Armor Changes on Melee Builds in the Game

The popularity of the Gladiator build has significantly decreased in the current league compared to previous ones.

Armor stacking melee builds have been dominant for several leagues, making it challenging for newer players to get involved due to cost and difficulty.

The armor changes are likely aimed at rebalancing the interaction of physical damage with players and enemies, potentially reverting the game to a previous state to address the ongoing melee crisis and allowing for the rebalancing of underlying damage skills.

Speculation on Potential Game Rework for Melee and Gladiator in PoE

There is speculation about a significant rework of skills to improve defensive stats and modifiers for melee, aiming to make it more playable.

The potential rework may involve changes to the way armor works, reintroducing old forms of block, and reinstating previous ascendency points for the Gladiator.

The hope is that these changes will allow for a better balance and bring back the enjoyment of playing melee and Gladiator characters in the game.

Need for Melee Buffs in Upcoming Game Leagues

Players are hoping for melee buffs in the next few game leagues before the new release.

The video encourages viewers to like, subscribe, and follow the Twitch channel for more content.

The speaker expresses a hopeful attitude towards the possibility of getting melee buffs in the game.