There are many other reasons a build could do well in ladder besides just being overpowered and I hope just being high on the ladder doesn’t shine a nerf light on the build. Seeing the top 10-20 ladder builds all being the same is one thing but sprinkles of other classes at the top I hope is ok as it allows us to tweak our builds to compete without fear of retribution. Here are some of the other things that may contribute to high ladder scores.
- Gear - having great gear and uniques are huge when it comes to high ladder scores and needs to be taken into account .
- Strategy - knowing how mobs react, when to kite, when to hide , when to rush, when to pot, is probably the single biggest reason for high scores.
- Gearing choices. Having 100% glancing blows is a must for high ladder scores and separates those who understand that part of the game and those who don’t. 99% glancing blows means nothing and is a waste just like “almost” having crit/crush taken off the table for tanks in old school wow.
- Player skill. This lends itself to ladder representation as well. When anyone can play a build and get to 300 plus there might be a problem but if 1 force guard or 1 shaman is up at the top and the next is 30 spots lower it could be skill or it could just be that the class isn’t that fun to play. ( I believe shaman is a blast to play but maybe it’s just me. )
- Specific class mechanics lend themselves better to doing well in the arena. Some spells / abilities just do better in arena . That doesn’t mean they should be nerfed or a play style should be nerfed if those skills are beneficial to the arena but not to other parts of the game.
- After taking all of that into account the build just might be overpowered and should be nerfed.