Median XL News, May 2025

[Taem]

I want to voice my opinion as unpopular as it probably is.

TLDR: The goal of median now is to hold the player and keep them busy on the same character for the 3 month+- season. I think a lot of us really enjoyed being able to make many characters with many builds and "testing" its ability. It was much easier to get new people into it when the pace was much faster.

None of this makes any sense

I've read your last like 15 comments, and its literally just troll comments. If you have a reading comprehension problem, I can't help that. But what I wrote is not hard to understand. Anyway lets stay on topic.

Not gonna lie, I read what you wrote and thought the exact same thing as AG... its a lot of hot air without any substance or direction. All you're actually saying is you had more fun with older patches because it was faster to... (level?), without giving any examples of how to fix it (i.e. what you thought was better). It felt like you were on the precipices of some great revelation, but nothing came from it. It felt like a waste of a read to be honest. Why don't you revisit what you wrote and "stay on topic" yourself by creating a wishlist of what needs to be changed, why it needs to be changed, and how you would change it. Thanks.

[cnlnjzfjb]

His problem is that Retaliate hasn't kept up with the powercreep of the rest of the game. Most of the "aoe" melee attacks have this issue - Parasite has gotten to be pretty okay, but when's the last time someone felt really good about using Retaliate? Earthquake? Noctule? Iron Spiral?

How about buffing EQ to 200% + 150% from 80% + 180% weapon dmg and Retaliate to 350% from 140% after reaching lvl 140? Then I guess we dont even need to change anything about their skill trees or gears to make holy melee pal and EQ barb better in late game?


I really think that hmp with Retaliate needs to be given 350% weapon dmg to behave good enough in t6+ lab if no passives buff or skill tree changed. I mean no super relics, no op scrolls, no op stone charms, ofc. Just a regular hmp using Retaliate, he has to have 350% weapon dmg version Retaliate to be an Okay lab farmer in recent patches.

Eq was actually nerfed for this patch because it was a little too strong. You're asking for it to be brought back to where it was before 2.10 so I don't think that's likely to happen. I never played a pure phys eq barb but I know it was nerfed for a reason.

Regarding retaliate;
1. Wdm is currently capped at 200 by the game engine. There's talks about trying to break that cap but I'm not sure what the progress is on that. It's a possibility for the future.
2. Retaliate is "supposed to" hit twice due to the stun/knock back so technically it's already more damage than earthquake if you consider the total % wdm of the 2 hits for both skills. How well that works in practice, especially when spamming the skill, I don't know.

Hmp is on my list of builds to play and push as it doesn't really have updated guides or anything, and I need to see how clunky his skills feel and if they're actually working as intended, or if they are why they're falling short.

I think hmp either needs a total rework, major itemization improvements, some qol adjustments, or some combination of the three.

All this to say he needs a little more work than there may be time for until next beta starts. Bandaid fixes can be deployed and personally I'm down for that but they'll only delay what he inevitably needs more which is a much more involved pass.

Thx, appreciate the work and reply very much. Im not expert on code or skill mechanism, glad to know Retaliate hits not once as it appears, but I can tell a bd strong or not by playing/testing it.

For EQ barb, losing the barehand bug is a big nerf for this bd. If not for scrolls/op stone charm this ladder, EQ barb has already fallen into t1-t1.5 bd in endgame(t6+ lab) after losing the bug, which means, EQ barb will be no longer a good option for endgame content in next patch 2.11 with no scrolls/op stone charm/barehand bug. EQ barb was strong before 2.10 because there was barehand bug. A regular EQ barb using no barehand bug was actually not that strong before 2.10, from my experience. So, in the coming 2.11 patch, with no barehand bug/scrolls/op stone charm, EQ barb clearly is no longer an option for me to play in endgame if no changes.

Hmp needs rework/buff, we all agree. But I really dont care, since I havent seen a really good strong build on pala for patches and dont hope for. Hmp can stay dead, it doesnt matter. Ppl got other bds to play.

[momope]

I want to voice my opinion as unpopular as it probably is.

I have played median for a very long time... since probably 2009 or so.

..


TLDR: The goal of median now is to hold the player and keep them busy on the same character for the 3 month+- season. I think a lot of us really enjoyed being able to make many characters with many builds and "testing" its ability. It was much easier to get new people into it when the pace was much faster.

I really like this post, I played back in these days and miss them greatly.

Median XL used to be about having fun. You could level up your character on your own and it felt like dark souls with the broken elite monsters that you had to learn their mechanics to progress. Or you could get boosted straight to end game in an hour where the game opens up into this sand box like experience. There were jobs you could do: being a character rusher and level booster, charm hunter, item farmer, great rune farmer, and min/max crafter. The dungeons and bosses felt like Disney World, choose your own adventure what rides you want to go on, do them in any order. Character skill/stat resets were cheap, the game rewarded experimentation, you could break the game with re-animates and procs, char run speed that was so fast playing online it couldn't load fast enough. You didn't need to do anything to have fun, it just was.

I think with the introduction of forum trading gold, the game became very serious and locked down in order to have a "healthy economy", and it's been like that ever since.

(also omg i hate the sprint stamina thing so much).

For me I want that old sand box experience, with more content to explore. I don't care about elitism, I just want to goof around and have fun. See the crazy procs and flashy lights, fight insane bosses and dungeons, and re-build or make new character with ease. And have an online community to do it with.

[AGsniper]

Level-gated content has to go

[Doupadoupa]

Level-gated content has to go

What lvl-gate are we talking about? You want to clear scosglen with 120 lvl character that gets 0 exp there?
I'd agree with uber quests however i do not see any problem with the lvl-gating, anyway you need those lvls and 20-30 minute difference doesn't make any bg impact. Lvling from 105-135 is fast right now

[BrecMadak]

I think with the introduction of forum trading gold, the game became very serious and locked down in order to have a "healthy economy", and it's been like that ever since.

Absolutely. Designing a game centered on trading inevitably leads to its downfall one way or another. The introduction of TG left a sour taste in my mouth, and the design decisions made around it each season have only favoured elitists who purchase and use them at the beginning of each season, giving them a perpetual advantage and widening the gap with other players. The most concerning aspect is that these TGs carry over to the next season, exacerbating the divide. And secondly, why introduce another revenue stream when there is already a Patreon system in place? Whilst I understand the production team has bills to pay, why not enhance the benefits of Patreon instead to prevent the game from deteriorating? This way, the game will be left untouched, free from external influences and won't have to be shaped by a business model.


Look at PoE2, a high-potential rival in the market that is doomed by its unfortunate business model that's been pushed hard on players since the EA. The game is designed around one big bubble called currency trading. So you don't craft a weapon or grind for a weapon because you won't have a great one, instead, you must trade in currency for a gear of your ideal needs. Yuck! Do not be that game!

[Ruubel]

I'm very sure, devs are vell aware of empty dunc and fautz. They probably have some ideas but I am putting here mine: let at fautz and dunc goblins appear more than "usually everywhere" .

[PitStains]

I think with the introduction of forum trading gold, the game became very serious and locked down in order to have a "healthy economy", and it's been like that ever since.

Absolutely. Designing a game centered on trading inevitably leads to its downfall one way or another. The introduction of TG left a sour taste in my mouth, and the design decisions made around it each season have only favoured elitists who purchase and use them at the beginning of each season, giving them a perpetual advantage and widening the gap with other players. The most concerning aspect is that these TGs carry over to the next season, exacerbating the divide. And secondly, why introduce another revenue stream when there is already a Patreon system in place? Whilst I understand the production team has bills to pay, why not enhance the benefits of Patreon instead to prevent the game from deteriorating? This way, the game will be left untouched, free from external influences and won't have to be shaped by a business model.


Look at PoE2, a high-potential rival in the market that is doomed by its unfortunate business model that's been pushed hard on players since the EA. The game is designed around one big bubble called currency trading. So you don't craft a weapon or grind for a weapon because you won't have a great one, instead, you must trade in currency for a gear of your ideal needs. Yuck! Do not be that game!

(also omg i hate the sprint stamina thing so much).

Nah, I find that a decent solution. The defense should reset to zero when you continue running, similar to how it was in the vanilla, which needs to be restored.

I can't disagree with your sentiment about TG dividing the 'veterans' or 'elites' that have been playing for a long time. It's true.

However, I made about 2000 TG in 1 season of trading, and since then, I have this 'buffer' of TG that I use for things like charms that I hate farming, or a specific SSU that I need for my build. It's not hard to get a few hundred TG if you want some trade advantage. It's also easy too just ignore TG and stay SSF, and ignore the leadboards. TG is probably the primary source to keep the servers running.

[Jackel6672]

► Show Spoiler

His problem is that Retaliate hasn't kept up with the powercreep of the rest of the game. Most of the "aoe" melee attacks have this issue - Parasite has gotten to be pretty okay, but when's the last time someone felt really good about using Retaliate? Earthquake? Noctule? Iron Spiral?

How about buffing EQ to 200% + 150% from 80% + 180% weapon dmg and Retaliate to 350% from 140% after reaching lvl 140? Then I guess we dont even need to change anything about their skill trees or gears to make holy melee pal and EQ barb better in late game?


I really think that hmp with Retaliate needs to be given 350% weapon dmg to behave good enough in t6+ lab if no passives buff or skill tree changed. I mean no super relics, no op scrolls, no op stone charms, ofc. Just a regular hmp using Retaliate, he has to have 350% weapon dmg version Retaliate to be an Okay lab farmer in recent patches.

Eq was actually nerfed for this patch because it was a little too strong. You're asking for it to be brought back to where it was before 2.10 so I don't think that's likely to happen. I never played a pure phys eq barb but I know it was nerfed for a reason.

Regarding retaliate;
1. Wdm is currently capped at 200 by the game engine. There's talks about trying to break that cap but I'm not sure what the progress is on that. It's a possibility for the future.
2. Retaliate is "supposed to" hit twice due to the stun/knock back so technically it's already more damage than earthquake if you consider the total % wdm of the 2 hits for both skills. How well that works in practice, especially when spamming the skill, I don't know.

Hmp is on my list of builds to play and push as it doesn't really have updated guides or anything, and I need to see how clunky his skills feel and if they're actually working as intended, or if they are why they're falling short.

I think hmp either needs a total rework, major itemization improvements, some qol adjustments, or some combination of the three.

All this to say he needs a little more work than there may be time for until next beta starts. Bandaid fixes can be deployed and personally I'm down for that but they'll only delay what he inevitably needs more which is a much more involved pass.

Thx, appreciate the work and reply very much. Im not expert on code or skill mechanism, glad to know Retaliate hits not once as it appears, but I can tell a bd strong or not by playing/testing it.

For EQ barb, losing the barehand bug is a big nerf for this bd. If not for scrolls/op stone charm this ladder, EQ barb has already fallen into t1-t1.5 bd in endgame(t6+ lab) after losing the bug, which means, EQ barb will be no longer a good option for endgame content in next patch 2.11 with no scrolls/op stone charm/barehand bug. EQ barb was strong before 2.10 because there was barehand bug. A regular EQ barb using no barehand bug was actually not that strong before 2.10, from my experience. So, in the coming 2.11 patch, with no barehand bug/scrolls/op stone charm, EQ barb clearly is no longer an option for me to play in endgame if no changes.

Hmp needs rework/buff, we all agree. But I really dont care, since I havent seen a really good strong build on pala for patches and dont hope for. Hmp can stay dead, it doesnt matter. Ppl got other bds to play.

Eq barb can do pretty much everything without being unarmed. Angelics are completely bonkers damage wise.
It just requires you to actually gear for endgame content. Which is perfectly acceptable.

[luciano_96369]

Will oskills be given some love?

That's roughly 70% of my focus rn. If you're in the discord I'm avail for feedback.

Your post is 3 years old and some of it was directly addressed (specifically avalanche), but a couple of the skills you mention are on my list (not necessarily for 2.11 but definitely for the future)

Hello, I am on Discord. How I can find you?