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anything that deviates from the current meta is going to suck, the only question is how hard
I strongly disagree.
The Powercreep in this game has reached a level where almost all skills are perfectly viable for endgame now. Especially in trade leagues.
3 examples:
Winters Orb, I never tried the original unnerfed version because it seemed too op.
Tried it now to see if all the whining about the rebalance was justified and what do you know it absolutely shreds.
Cyclone, played the skill since it existed and it was totally fine through all the changes, even though every single change was met with total outrage.
3.7 Unarmed version still good even without the op radius aoe interaction. 3.8 Still a great skill.
Ice Trap, noone seems to play it but the damage + build in aoe overlap is ridiculous while providing the freeze safety + shatter explosion clearspeed and the prestacking for bosses.
I agree that certain skills can be bad for different league mechanics, but when you are new to the game you should just try out different skill gems which fit your character, look up the support gems that are best for them & see if you like how the skill plays. If you found a skill you like check which ascendancy is best for it and how to scale the damage.
GGG is obviously forcing a meta now with each patch but it is in no way mandatory.