But even with the overwhelming success that the system has seen, Blizzard has been cagey about its introduction into the base game. Reddit User Playful_Ad966 is just one of many players raving about how much they enjoy the system in their Reddit post. With such an uproar of positivity regarding Season 10 and Chaos Armor, why is Blizzard hesitant to bring it back? Should it remain a seasonal power and leave at the end of the season? There are a couple of arguments on either side.
Chaos Armor needs to go
The biggest issue with Chaos Armor is its effect on lesser gear. While the power of Chaos Armor is immense, the game struggles to balance its increased effects and powerful combinations compared to its regular counterparts. Take the example of Fists of Fate
On the left is the original unique item, with the right being the Chaos Armor variant. Not only does the Chaos Armor version not have a roll on the power, it's also much stronger. With the Chaos Armor variant, the Unique power is guaranteed to be an average damage multiplier of 80.5%. In comparison, the regular Fists of Fate can increase damage anywhere between 0.5% and 50.5%, depending on the roll from the drop.
The effect on gearing is obvious. Uniques hold no value to even poorly rolled Chaos Uniques, simply on the power creep of the power. The comparison could be drawn with Uniques replacing Legendary Items, but there is one stark difference. Legendary Items and Uniques do not share powers. Aspects have vastly different powers and can solve Resource Issues or add strong generic damage multipliers. Chaos Uniques in comparison are strictly better, identical versions of their counterparts, which eliminates the need for base Unique items to exist in the first place.
Chaos Armor needs to stay
On the other side of the argument, Chaos Uniques has added tremendous depth to character building that no other season has quite done. Without adding more Uniques, Blizzard has given the playerbase a way to chase gear, something that was sorely lacking previously. While Greater Affixes have been seen as the traditional "chase", their impact is typically relatively low in comparison to the powers themselves. Chaos Uniques has solved this issue by adding notably stronger gear to hunt for instead. While the Greater Affix system is still present on this gear, the hunt is obtaining the gear itself, not rolling the dice on the 50th drop of the same item.
Another often praised part of the Chaos Armor system is that the rolls on the powers are fixed at their maximum values. The reason why regular Unique items lose their luster quickly is that dropping the item itself is not enough in a lot of cases. With the example of Fists of Fate, a roll of 220% for most players is seen as a disappointment, not a joy that the item dropped. This disappointment quickly leads to apathy towards the gear system, making Unique items no longer feel "unique". Chaos Armor feels exciting to drop because that disappointment is not there. It rolls at the maximum, every time. Once it drops, players are essentially "done" with that item, and that feeling is something missing from the game currently.
Chaos Armor is not perfect. It's a system that emerged when player apathy towards Seasonal Powers and Gearing reached an all-time high. While there are many good things to praise about the depth of gearing, the thrill of the chase, or the player choice that it enables, it's important to recognize why the system is such a breath of fresh air to the game. Blizzard is right to take a step back and consider the benefits of the system against the potential harm it could cause to gearing long-term.
