New Skill layout.Why have level restrictions?

#0 - Dec. 31, 2010, 4:05 p.m.

With the evolution of the skills structure from D2 to D3 we've seen the removal of prerequisites, and we seen the removal of skill trees.
And we seen the hard coding of 7 skills.

So with the limited skills, no prereqs, and no trees, why are there still (?) level requirements on skills?

You have skill tiers, but essentially, all that means (in a practical sense) is that every 5 levels, you get an extra skill slot upwards to 7.
Only Tier 7 gives the impression of being more powerful than the rest, but with the current layout, you can get or respec to have ALL Tier 7 skills which defeats the concept.

Skill's own power is derived a lot through gear as far as I know. It isn't just fixed numbers that can't change.

With all the changes, the level restriction seems to be the only legacy concept that has lingered. But should it? Should it go away too?

Bashiok

#25 - Feb. 28, 2011, 1:40 p.m.

Nice discussion. So yeah, skills are tiered out for progression. Not only as a reward as you level up, but also to ensure we're not dumping the entire game on a new player. Early tier skills tend to be cheap or free to cast, and have fairly straight forward mechanics and uses (do damage to enemies). As the tiers progress we introduce more complex systems, avoidance, mobility, maybe skills that cost a little more, or require a bit more finesse to pull off well. Then we get to the end of the tiers and these are usually the biggest, most expensive, and visually impressive. The tiers do start out simply and progress toward the bigger and 'cooler' spells. As they should. We can also design and tune the beginning of the game with the skills available in mind, which really helps to ensure those first few hours aren't frustrating.

Anyway, as I said, the end tier skills also tend to be the most expensive. While I'm sure there will be builds that take all the end tier skills, people will still need to pick skills throughout the tree to create a solid character, and we're designing the skills to ensure they can continue to be as viable as possible regardless of character level. Some first and second tier skills will scale really well and I don't doubt will be bread and butter for a number of builds.

And just an FYI repeat of info - The leveling progression is designed that you'd have all your skill tiers unlocked before you finish Normal.