Thoughts on Topaz Brooch and how strong it is

[Aevia]

Should this item be nerfed to be better for a common item or buffed and made an uncommon. Because honestly Brooch is just extremely strong even at only +20 shield per kill.

[Backstabba]

I think its good as it is its just the fact that most defensive items as a whole are FAR too weak atm like infusion and the shield generator.

Infusion only stacks to 100 hp after 100 kills and each new one requires 100 more kills for 100 more hp...Nearly all defensive items are better then it.

Shield generator grants a whapping 25 hp that you can't even heal with life steal/regen items... Sadly it still ends up better then infusion as the hp it grants doesn't count against you from % hp damage effects like burning unlike infusion.

[crab.king274]

2 topaz brooch is Just Right.
1 is too useless,
3 is too useful.

When you're out killing enemies, you get a free shield every time you kill one. 1 is nice to have for a little "hold up!" moment, but later in the run, you're running away from half the hordes. 3 makes you a crowd control king. Just keep behemothing enemies to death, and you're practically invincible. But with 2, it's just the right {insert Pacha Perfect meme} balance of helpfulness. If you kill an enemy, it gives you just enough time to create a combo chain of shields as long as you're constantly killing. If you choose the safe way, and run from a fight, then you don't get help. If you choose to Risk your life to keep things from getting out of hand, then the pawned brooch is there to give you a little help.

To recap, I think it should stay where it is now, but just cap how much time maximum you can have for shield duration.

[Boksha]

Originally posted by Backstabba:

I think its good as it is its just the fact that most defensive items as a whole are FAR too weak atm like infusion and the shield generator.

Infusion only stacks to 100 hp after 100 kills and each new one requires 100 more kills for 100 more hp...Nearly all defensive items are better then it.

Shield generator grants a whapping 25 hp that you can't even heal with life steal/regen items... Sadly it still ends up better then infusion as the hp it grants doesn't count against you from % hp damage effects like burning unlike infusion.

Infusion has actually always been really good. It's a permanent +100 max HP, for every single one you collect. That's absolutely huge if you get one early on, but if you have a bunch of them it's still really good later in the game, given that it means you can survive more instant damage. Nearly all other defensive items are better than it? Which other defensive items? Before the last patch, that was basically just Tougher Times, Shield Generator, Stealth Kit, Rose Buckler and Dio's Best Friend. Shield Generator is basically 1/4th of an Infusion, Tougher Times only activates randomly and Stealth Kit is both random AND doesn't actually prevent any instant damage, and Dio's Best Friend is a red item so no duh it's better. Rose Buckler was the only non-red that was arguably better than Infusion, but it's situational since not all characters can sprint constantly (and even Huntress and Merc have a lot of attacks that require breaking their sprint)

Since the patch, Topaz Brooch, as it is, is hilariously powerful, but even now, its max multiplies with Shield Generator and Infusion, so an Infusion is now basically an extra 200 HP instead of the old 100 HP.

It's a little sad other defensive items basically become accessories to the Topaz Brooch though. Given the name of the item, it feels like it should be the other way around...

[Backstabba]

Tougher times even as a single item often blocks hundreds/a couple thousand points of damage a level(As its absolute damage reduction).

i named shield generator as a bad item but it grants low amounts of hp but the hp it grants doesn't invoke the % hp increase of burning.

Stealth is an extremely good item on rex as your own abilities proc it but is overall underpowered.

buckler same as above but for hunteress and merc.

A lot of defence items are too character specific like the brusling shrooms are only good on the engineer for example making it so overall defence items are bad.

[crab.king274]

Well, yeah I mean, I just had a run with Mercenary, and just happened to get Spinel Tonic and Soulbound Catalyst, which gave me an instant recharging tonic (because some of it recharges while in the duration). Took off half the enemies in one map stacked together in one sweep. Compared to brooch and it's defensive capabilities, it's like 4 brooches. Brooch needs to be upped in tier.

(Also sorry for necroposting)

[Boksha]

Originally posted by Backstabba:

Tougher times even as a single item often blocks hundreds/a couple thousand points of damage a level(As its absolute damage reduction).

The amount of damage you avoid over the course of a stage really doesn't matter that much. Small amounts of damage can be healed easily even by just fleeing for a bit. When you're actually taking enough damage to risk dying, Tougher Times at best only has a chance to save you. Infusion, conversely, will absolutely save you in many situations.

Obviously Topaz Brooch is way better since even in small stacks, it basically doubles your max HP instead of adding an absolute number. But Infusion is still a lot better than pretty much all other defensive items (including healing ones) except for Rose Buckler and Dio's Best Friend, which similarly can be guaranteed life savers for all survivors. The fact that Topaz Brooch also doubles the HP you get from Infusion means that doesn't change either.

[Nuggs]

ill tell you whats broken. whats broken is that damn teddy bear. you get enough of those ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and you may as well be unstopable.

[GIRL]

I think right now we just have too few white items. Don't get me wrong - there's a lot. But not nearly as many as in the first game. Once they add more and more white items, effectively lowering the chances of getting "broken" ones like the Brooch, Tougher Times, and Guillotine, they'll likely feel a lot more balanced. Right now it's almost too easy to stack them.

[Jenkem Junkie]

just throwing this out there, buckler also adds extra defense to Mul-t's transport mode so if you're low on health and running or if you plan to smash through a bunch of enemies or bump an overlord, it adds stacks defense. Plus transport mode puts ends with you in a running state so you carry over with the buckler buff until you either stop, turn around, or start shooting at something.

[Dog]

It wont be such an issue when the other 30 items are added to the drop pool. When you finally/luckily get that 2nd and 3rd broach it'l be nice.

[Lunacy]

Especially when you go for shaped glass it practically doubles your health pool.