Hi all, By now most of us have read part one of "Director's Cut" by Luke Smith, and the forums have burst into chaos. I contributed to this, in a rage-induced post about the Well of Radiance. If you are uninformed--Smith's writing basically confirmed that the Well will be taking a hit, and referenced a specific content-creator/streamer for the logic behind the nerf. My original post was--as I said before--rage induced, as I don't want my main subclass to become irrelevant. After much heated discussion over the past couple days, I wanted to write a follow up post---I've had time to clear my head, and my point of view has changed in some areas. I'm going to split this post up into numbered sections, using the spoiler tag to make it easier on the eyes (big shout-out to [b]souldcode[/b] for giving me this tip!). If you want to see the original post to get a feel for the topic, you can find it here: [url]https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/253175669?sort=0&page=0[/url] I also wanna take a moment to credit [b]Madman Asunder[/b], as my opinion was greatly shifted after reading a comment they made on my original post. I'm all about civil discussion, and they changed my mind in more ways than one! For those who read this, feel free to follow suit. Enjoy the read, and keep it civil as always. Eyes up! 1.) The Meta Will Always Shift... [spoiler]When looking at the upcoming changes to the WoR, I think this is one of the strongest points to be made. We do not [b]need[/b] to always have the same boss strategies, and should accept that these strategies will have to change. One could look a D2, Year 2, and dub it the "Year of the Well" as it pertains to PvE (raids in particular). It [b]is[/b] okay for this time to end. Similar to how players needed to move on from the Titan Bubble strategies in D1, we will most likely have to move on from the WoR strategies that we've used for the past year. This comes as a natural part of the game's growth, and we will always have to adapt using our characters' most current abilities.[/spoiler] 2.) ...But This Shift is Seeing Backlash Due to its "Forced" Nature [spoiler]After looking at both my own remarks, and the remarks of others on my original post, I think this is a good way to sum up the community's reaction. It is one thing for an activity to come, and the players discover that the Well isn't optimal...its another to simply take away the option to use the Well. I think that this opinion is fair, and it ties in with the arguments about encounter design v. the WoR. A player commented on my original post, describing the nerf as a "cheap" way to increase difficulty, and I do see where they're coming from. I also understand the things change throughout the game's life, and given Bungie's resources, it is easier to simply redsign the WoR instead of everything else.[/spoiler] 3.) My Opinion: The Result is Acceptable, but the Reasoning is Not [spoiler]I have come to understand this nerf. I even view it as reasonable; all good things must come to an end, as they say. However, I am very unhappy with the logic behind these changes. Here's some of the reasons that the Well are being adjusted (I'm gonna break these into multiple sections as well):[/spoiler] 4.) It makes encounters "too easy" [spoiler]I will say this--Well does make current encounters too easy, and it is overpowered in that sense. However, it is not optimal in the most difficult situations. We can look at week one of the Shattered Throne, or Heroic Menagerie as examples. My first Shattered Throne run was done while under-powered by 35. In that case, the Well wasn't helping at all--we would be insta-melted out of it. The same goes for most Heroic Menagerie rooms. As such, you've always been better off using supers to kill enemies---in those situations,its easier to kill stuff that's trying to kill you than it is to survive their attacks. However, the Well can be viewed as "broken" when an a player is up to power, and the most efficient strategies have been worked out. In other words: when the player is properly prepared and up-to-power, the Well is overly necessary as a means to beat the encounter quickly. This detail is ignored by many. [/spoiler] 5.) It is a requirement in endgame PvE, and doesn't allow Warlocks to use anything else [spoiler]The initial reasoning here is actually correct. It is a tough pill to swallow, as I'm a Warlock main and don't want my class to get weaker, but [b]we do have to run WoR for most encounters[/b]. Doing most difficult endgame activities without the Well is borderline blasphemous, so you just suck it up and run Attunement of Grace. My issue is that taking away Well isn't going to diversify subclass much more. I'll get into this in a later section, but what kicking the WoR off of the PvE throne will just leave something else to take its place. For Warlocks, this is most likely going to be one of two things: Nova Bomb or Chaos Reach, and they will run whatever proves to be the most effective in PvE.[/spoiler] 6.) Well has created a "One-Phase-Craze", in which players need to do encounters as quickly as possible, and exploit cheeses in combination with the Well to do so. [spoiler]I'm dubbing this the "One-Phase-Craze"---its the idea that endgame encounters need to be completed in a single damage phase (or as quickly as possible), and players will abuse whatever abilities/cheeses necessary to do this. I'm not denying that this exists; there is definitely a yearning to get encounters done as fast as possible. However, I think people are wrong to blame the WoR for this mindset. If you look through Destiny's history, the One-Phase-Craze has always existed. My clanmates and I were discussing it last night: whether it was spamming solar grenades to make bosses walk off the map, or having 6-stacks of Gjallarhorn to melt bosses, players have found cheeses and optimal loadouts for nearly everything. The widespread use of the Well is a result of this mindset, not the cause of it.[/spoiler] 7.) Auto-Reload is a Bigger Issue than WoR [spoiler]One of my original statements that I still believe is that Well isn't the problem, but instead its auto-reloading mechanics in the form of Lunafaction Boots and Rally Barricades, in combination with the current meta. Look at Gahlran, the boss of Crown of Sorrow: players can hit him with two Anarchy grenades, and then--due to the Luna/Well combo--spam out 20 Mountaintop grenades in time it would normally take to shoot 5. This same effect is seen in a multitude of raid encounter--Kalli, Shuro Chi, Morgeth, and Riven can all have their mechanics either bypassed or reduced due to the auto-reload. Insurrection Prime is melted by a barrage of DARCI shots from the Wells, rifts or barricades. Further supporting this is Whisper of the Worm. In Scourge of the Past, Whisper was more widely used than DARCI for a long time, due to the ammo economy and ease of the strategy (which involved sitting in the room at spawn, and laying into the boss). During that era, it was common to only use one Well in the middle of the room, as opposed to the three-Well strategy used widely today. The transition initially took place after the first Whisper nerf, when its ammo was reduced which granted less room for error. I believe this goes to show that Well is typically less important for healing/empowering than it is for quick damage output when paired with Lunas.[/spoiler] 8.) If the Well is Being Reduced in Order to Buff the Bubble...This is a Good Thing! [spoiler]I have said it before in this post, and I'll say it again: I am a Warlock main, and don't want my class to get weaker. However, I want all classes to have a unique place in the game, and Titans haven't had a real place in endgame PvE for a while. We know they are getting Weapons of Light back, so it is very possible that the Well is being toned down to bring that up. This would be a fair and necessary change. I'll go into a bit more of my opinion in the next (and final) section.[/spoiler] 9.) Closing Thoughts and Predictions [spoiler]So, where exactly am I at on this topic right now? I'd say I'm somewhere in the middle. On one hand, I can see why the Well is getting adjusted, and I understand it completely. Like it or not, the changes will force us to try new things, and that's always good. There will be an extra bonus in Titans becoming more powerful, so good for them. However, I think the game would still benefit by being more creative with encounter design, and we should all want that. When it comes down to it, most boss phases are pretty similar, and we would all benefit from diversity there. I don't think nerfing the Well solves this issue, but merely gives us another way to do the same thing. This is where [b]Madman Asunder[/b]'s original comment struck a chord with me---they acknowledged that this is a game of meta's and nerfing the Well won't solve that issue but divert it to another source. I think Bungie and [i]certain content-creators[/i] would benefit from accepting this. All in all, that comment did convince me that these adjustments will be good overall. I want to give my predictions for what will happen moving forward. While some of you will likely say these are overblown, and we have to wait and see the changes, I'd urge you to think about Bungie's history with these decisions. Whether its weapons or abilities, they almost [b]always[/b] go too far when balancing, so we have plenty of reason to believe the Well will be near useless. Anywho, here's the list: -WoR has potential to work with the Bubble, so long as its not nerfed too much -Warlocks will mostly use Nova Bomb or Chaos Reach--whichever ends up being the best for bosses -One-Phasing will continue, but require more teamwork/interdependence -The door for class-to-class support combos opens [/spoiler]