Hello, long time player, first time poster. I would like to give some thoughts about the new Imbue system in place. While overall I think it is an interesting idea and helps boost creativity in builds, I am not sure I like how it was implemented with respect to filigrees. For those unaware, filigrees which had bonus damage dice as a set bonus (eg The Beast's Mantle, Long Shadow, etc) had their damage dice removed and replaced with 1-2 Imbue dice. This is a discussion of points regarding this change. I am not going to get into deep analysis of the numbers as I don't think there's much to discuss there that is controversial

Weakened Already Weak Filigree Sets
For most cases I've considered filigree sets which were impacted in this way are generally weaker for any build using an imbue scaling off Melee or Ranged power (MP/RP). Despite the fact that the old bonus damage dice did not scale, it's difficult for only 2 imbue dice to be able to keep up with the old 4d6 +1d6/epic level, even if the imbue is one of those that scales off 200% MP/RP. If it is only 100% scaling, it is surely a drop in damage. Scaling off of spellpower is a different story, of course.

One counterpoint I've seen to this is that neither the old bonus dice nor the imbue dice are a major source of damage in competitive builds due to not scaling on crits. This is surely true, but I would suggest that this is a reason why these underused filigree sets should not be weakened in this way. I don't want to get into discussion about which filigrees are best - suffice to say that the ones effected I think can be agreed were underused already and did not need to be brought down at all.

These Filigrees Now Restrict Build Options
Since the damage in these sets is now dependent on having an Imbue available, you can only make use of this part of the Filigree's set bonus if your build includes an Imbue. While it is true that there have been imbues rolled into many trees, not every build will want to take them. There is also the case of Fighter, which does not get an imbue at all currently. If you do not have an Imbue, then one of the set bonuses on all these Filigrees is essentially blank to your character. Not great! Previously, you had a bit more flexibility to choose from among these sets regardless of your build, this slot would always yield the damage dice. I don't think a generic weapon filigree should be asking you to always have an Imbue to be useful.

Messing with Sentient Weapons
Anyone already using these filigrees are now kind of in an awkward place where they've developed a sentient weapon's level and slotted these filigrees. With this change though, many of these filigrees may no longer seem as useful or they may be more useful in a different base. A big deal is made of sentience toolkits and the importance of committing filigrees correctly. Changing what those filigrees do after the fact does not seem fair.


Summing Up
Again I'd like to say that I enjoy the Imbue system overall. However given its apparent purpose to better integrate different enhancement trees and allow for multiclassing, it's not clear that rolling filigrees into the mechanic was necessary. You would not have expected the damage dice on weapon mods such as Holy or Fiery to be converted to Imbue dice, and I think that logic should apply to Filigrees also. I generally feel that the filigrees should be reverted to the flat bonus damage dice they had previously. Failing that, I feel that the imbues in the filigrees could be adjusted a bit. I lay out some notions below - I'm not suggesting all these be done simultaneously, but rather that they individually can help with different issues I see with the new arrangement:

  • Boost the imbue dice from 1-2 to 2-3. This would ensure that most use cases aren't a nerf compared to the old bonus dice.
  • Have all MP/RP imbues scale from 150-200% MP/RP rather than having them at 100%. This would help them keep up a bit better with the 200% Scales/Spellpower Scales/old bonus dice.
  • Provide the Kensei tree with an Imbue of some kind so it can make better use of these filigrees.
  • Revert only some of the filigrees. Some of the filigrees and their use cases are better served mechanically and thematically by the imbue dice. These could be left in place but others could be reverted.
  • Provide players the option to buy a Deslotting tool for plat which works only on the filigrees which were changed. This will enable people to adapt their existing sentient weapons to these changes.


I know many people enjoy the new Imbue system - I do as well, and it isn't my intention to try and diminish your enjoyment of it. But I hope you can understand that some of us may feel a bit singed by the change and hope we can work towards a remedy.

Thanks for reading