Some Game Mechanics and Build Issues

Dear GGG Staff,

I truly apologize for taking up your time. My friends and I are ardent fans of your game. We wholeheartedly believe that POE2 is the most captivating and addictive game we've ever had the pleasure of playing. However, during our gameplay, we've come across several aspects that we think could benefit from some attention and improvement.

I. Class Balance

Legendary Chest Armor with Cooldown Reduction
The current price of the legendary chest armor that reduces cooldown is exorbitant. It's incredibly difficult to obtain, with a high acquisition threshold. Once equipped, it can, without exaggeration, multiply the map - clearing efficiency by several times or even a dozen - fold. The ability to blink infinitely, in my view, is a clear disruption to the game's balance. For players who can't afford this item, it's disheartening to see their builds fall so far behind. I believe a reasonable cooldown reduction is acceptable, but the current state of unlimited blinking needs to be rectified.

Self - Harm Demon Build
The Self - Harm Demon build is even more overpowered than the cooldown - reducing chest armor. With a minimal investment, it can achieve an extremely high skill - casting frequency. This build can easily stack layers to gain a substantial amount of increased spell damage and then use the damage - compensation mechanism to offset the life - loss drawback after transforming into a demon. In contrast, popular builds like the Storm Weaver's electric ball require high - cost equipment to achieve similar results. If the Self - Harm Demon build remains unadjusted, it undermines the significance of other core game mechanics such as the cast - speed affix, the Archmage damage - stacking - mana mechanism, and the life - regeneration affix. Given the precedent of nerfing early ice - based spells to reduce Comet's trigger frequency, it's hard to understand why the Self - Harm Demon build has not been similarly adjusted.

Dodge - Skill Release Build
The build that releases skills when dodging, despite previous nerfs, has been buffed in some ways. Currently, exploiting the bug of the legendary stomping boots has made this build even more powerful. This has created a significant gap between this build and others, leaving normal builds in the dust. I earnestly request that you consider nerfing it as soon as possible to restore fairness in the game.

II. Clarifications on Some Game Mechanics

Ritual Gameplay
In the Ritual gameplay, I'm curious to know at what map tier and above the Map Fragment of Encountering the Emperor can be found, and whether item rarity affects its appearance rate.

Item Rarity
Is it always beneficial to have a higher item rarity? Does an extremely high item rarity reduce the drop rates of Divine Orbs and Exalted Orbs? Also, does it increase the drop rate of unidentified equipment with high - tier affixes, potentially leading to a decrease in currency drops? If so, I'll focus on stacking item rarity; if not, could you please inform me of the optimal item rarity range for maximizing the drop of Divine Orbs and Exalted Orbs?

Future Adjustments to Item Rarity Mechanism
Are there any plans to adjust the item rarity mechanism in the future?

Energy Shield and Chaos Damage
Regarding the game mechanism where energy shield takes double chaos damage, if a monster deals 200 chaos damage, and I have 200 energy shield, 500 health, and 0 chaos resistance, how much health will I have left after the damage is taken?

Gold Drop and Currency Drop
Does the map affix that increases gold drop reduce the drop rate of currency?

Death with Non - Depleted Energy Shield
After taking the talent that immunizes chaos damage and reduces maximum life to 1, I've experienced multiple instances of dying with a non - depleted energy shield while my life reaches 0. It's extremely frustrating. Could you please list the possible reasons so that I can avoid such sudden deaths in future gameplay? (Pictures of in - game deaths are attached in the appendix for your reference.)

Thank you very much for reading through my feedback. These are insights from my friends, our game group, and me. We hope you can provide detailed answers at your convenience. While our perspectives may not be perfect, they do represent our concerns. We would be extremely grateful if you could consider making adjustments based on the points you find valid.
Best regards,