The +speed arms race

yes remove speed items.

Then hell lets remove armor items too, because if i get armor, and my enemy gets armor, then we both are where we started right?  Or maybe we can have like 1 boot in the game that you have to find on the map somewhere hidden, yea.

/sarcasm off

I only grab speed upgrades sometimes. Sometimes the extra HP, armor, mana, or special ability is far better. I tend to try to trap people and ambush more than run down. Just depends on the map, enemy demigods, and my mood.

However, it is pretty rediculus when you have an unclean beast with a run speed of like 10.2 or something.

The worst is when you go to buy the Swift Anklet and realize with horror that Favor Points have decided to bug out on you this game!  Mwahahaha you have 0 favor now.

And the enemy's favor points didn't bug out.  And now he has a Swift Anklet and you'll never escape him.  gg

It has always been a dumb mechanic.  +Speed is very, very powerful so boots of speed end up a mandatory item and swift anklet has always been one of the best favor items.

I think it should be changed so +speed items no longer stack and you only get the best +speed bonus.  This would allow them to rebalance the boots and put +speed on a few more of them, balancing them much better.  Right now most of the boots are total crap.

It would also make the swift anklet a more unique favor item, it would give you a slight speed edge on the enemy until artifacts start rolling out, at which point the enemy can match your speed for 12k.  Part of what makes the swift anklet so necessary is how it stacks with all the other speed items and if you don't take it you get further and further behind the enemy.  A few demigods (mainly rook) function in a way where they don't need the swift anklet, but many need the item to keep up in the speed race.

Thing is, you can also win this race by NOT NEEDING TO RUN AWAY.

Why remove them? I asked if you like this game mechanic?

And having the same armor on two different demigods is different then having speed boots on both of them - what if one depends on skills damage and the other autoattack? Whereas speed boots have identical effects on both.

I think the issue is more that, at a reasonable cost range, there are only two speed boosting items in the game: wand of speed and boots of speed.  With inventory space plentiful in the early game, there's just no reason not to buy these very cheap and effective items.

I think both boot and wand need a cost increase, since right now people are just picking them up right off the bat.  Mana regeneration is top priority, maybe an appropriate piece of armour if you're up against Erebus or the beast, and then comes boots of speed.  A higher cost would mean it would be a more meaningful decision rather than just "I need my boots" and shelling out a paltry 1000 gold for them.

Aside from that, we need more variety when it comes to speed boosting items.  There is the threat of speed stacking becoming a bit overpowering, but if priced correctly I think it could add a lot of variety to the game.  How about taking one of the underused 4000 or 5000 range cost items and adding a 5% move speed boost to them.  You'd have to shell out a shit load to get them, but if you're speed stacking it would actually make those items worthwhile without being overpowered.  Or how about a "Rod of Sprinting" that gives you enhanced move speed for a short duration, followed by a move speed penalty for a short duration.  Items like these would add variety that you're looking for without making speed stacking too strong.

The actual problem is not necessarily the speed - it is the fact that you can attack WHILE MOVING.  This is fantastically broken.  They will be continuously wailing on you for as long as you can run and there is literally no escape.

They don't even need to be faster, they can chain attack you while moving at the SAME SPEED.

You should need to be stationary while attacking.  Now same speed heroes get one shot on a fleeing target.  Chasing someone results in far less casualties.

You can't win if they run away from you...

This is a horrible idea.  First of all, not every character can shoot while running.  A perfect example is Torchbearer, who needs to stop to attack in fire form, but can attack on the run in frost form.  Second of all, if no characters could attack on the run then you could almost always escape from any fight.  It's already easy enough to get away if you're smart and cautious about it.

Its great I love it, a 7.5 Speed Rook is amazling fun

Agreed, generals would become invincible then considering priests heal while moving. (which they shouldn't do for how much they heal)

I actually think this is a bug.  He's the only one that can't.

Any *1v1* fight against someone that does not have slowing abilities, of which many people do.  I wouldn't have a problem with that.  And two heroes on you wouldn't change much.

Then stop competing for speed, and try to surpass him somewhere else, maybe some -movement items. because the enemy has better speed does not mean he will always be able to run from a fight.

Sorry if someone already said that i just dont feel like reading everything right now

And with that logic you should be stationary for a very small duration when you get hit. That would be a horrible idea to cause someone chasing a fleeing target to cause them to stop every time they want to hit.  Running away is already easy enough in this game, no need to make it any easier.  Also this would be more of a disadvantage to the melee classes that don't have long-range abilities/attacks because they would get less attacks in on a fleeing target, while still risking themselves in enemy territory.

Maybe you should buy some other items so you can out last them and let them get some real use out of the speed items by running off.

this aint even worth my time

+speed "arms race," eh? So much for "Faster, Better, Cheaper"... now we're just going for faster.

But at any rate, I may as well repeat that yes, everyone can just get the same speed items and make everyone's DG the same speed, but then they sacrifice all other kinds of bonuses for that speed which may ultimately be more beneficial.

The real but implicit argument you're making here is that at essentially every level of gear and for every Demigod, improving speed is overwhelmingly more important than improving any other stat. That is simply untrue.

Why would I wear a Swift Anklet when my DG could get a much greater improvement in performance with another favor item?

I can see I'll have to clean out my intro and just get to the point, because people are not catching what I'm actually asking here. I'm not looking for tips to get away or catch people, I'm not asking for a nerf or buff, I'm asking:

Do people like how it is right now?

Yes, I do like how it is right now.  I may be and probably am being biased (I primarily play UB); but in most games I play I like to be fast.  To me the base speed of UB is excruciatingly slow and I always purchase the boots of speed at the start of every game.  By level 10 I usually have the +10% speed from passive abilities and when favor is not buggy I get the 15% speed from the swift anklet.  I love the speed that those items give.

Then why waste our time with this competely inane comment that brought absolutely nothing to this conversation?

Yes I do have my own (perhaps premature) suspicion regarding the importance of speed in this game - which you've caught on to. However, I don't want that to cloud what I'm really after here - what other people think about the whole +speed item game mechanic. And let's ignore Swift Anklet for a second here (I agree there are other fantastic items) - are Boots and Wand of Speed really that expensive in the grand scheme of an average game?

Ok fair Enough, but you are telling us about an specific scenario, an specific scenario that dosent really exist, sorry man but really 2 people fighting to get the best speed is not the standard play right now, neither it is correct, what you say is not how the game works right now so you cannot ask us if we feel ok with it.

And yes i dont care that if the enemy starts with a better speed that at the end with the same items he has better speed, and it should be like that. 

Sorry man but you did sound like you were whinig about not being able to catch someone faster than you even with the same items.

I'm not.

Rook with poisoned daggers and poisoned arrows says hi.

The so called " speed arms race" only exists because currently the game exists as nothing but a lot of assassins. Even the generals are, in large, played as assassins.  When the kinks are worked out and competitive play emerges then a more team focused strategy will take the lead.  Until teams quit competing for the right to claim most kills and simply focus on winning, IE: having heroes that push as well as complimentary assassins / protectors, then its going to be a race for speed because everyone is focused on the kills.

Example: I guarantee if you put me and two buddies in a match, two of us will play assassins as assassins, one of us will play someone with the sole purpose of pushing.  That pusher in no way needs boots.  Hes never going to need to run away because he's got teamates that cover him and take care of the assassinations.  The only movement he needs is a teleport to base and back for upping citadel and buying his start items + consumables.  Even my two assassins aren't going to try and whore out every +speed gear there is, because they play smart. Theyre going to let you come into our defenses far enough that a partner can port in behind or come in from a lane behind (such as the middle 2 horizontal lanes on levithian) and cut you off.  Or theyre going to make sure and whittle, whittle, burst; they wont give you the chance to try and escape, thus negating the boots.  And hey, even if you get away- OH WELL.  Theyve still accomplished a couple things: moved you from your lane so we can push it, cost you experience by removing you from your lane, and removing a potential threat from our pushing player.  In fact, some quick math shows that the kill is actually quicker for you to return to combat (in some maps):

Die: ~30 seconds of penalty

Escape: either time to walk or port to base. If you port to base you either walk back or wait 30 seconds for the port cooldown.

Bottom line: speed items or there functionality isnt an issue in my opinion, its easy enough to counter through survivability, more offense, or simple avoidance through playing more defensive.  It costs the player way too much, not in gold really, but in the opportunities missed by using those item slots for speed instead of something else.

Um, UB with boots of speed, swift anklet, inner beast and diseased claws says hi back