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1.66 Eldritch Report
• Overview :
The Eldritch is a solid class; however they still suffer from having two sub par lines clashed with one very strong line.
Improving these lines would ensure that no matter the spec path the Eldritch would be a flexible caster.
• Concerns :
Role in Epic scale raids.
The changes to pure DD to hit code on high level mobs were a good directional shift. However more needs to be done in this category. Resist rates on epic scale mobs are still very high even with pure DD’s and unchanged from before on combo DD’s and debuffs. ToA has made this all the more prevalent as now more casters are working through epic scale encounters and finding their ability to contribute limited. Also on a related concern is the number of highly magic immune and resistant mobs.
Void line utility/damage.
The void line has many ways of AE damage. However the line suffers in that it offers little utility & combat options vs. higher armored opponents. Other then bolts, the only single target option is a second, redundant, baseline DD that is for all points save for resist type the same as that in the light line.
• Specialization Issues :
Way of the Sun/ Shadow Control :
Vastly underplayed as a main line, light still offers little worth bringing the path to a high level.
The Eldritch community eagerly awaits the results of an examination of this line and any possible added incentive to choose this as a main spec line.
Way of the Eclipse/ Void Mastery :
GTAE still shows little fluctuation due to acuity, RA’s & spec.
to improve the utility of this line an evaluation in giving a modifier, such as a snare or debuff, on the Ethereal Concussion DD path is suggested.
• New Issues :
Many mobs in ToA are magic immune, highly resistant, unsnareable, or unmezable.
This makes it not only impossible for the Eldritch coming upon one of these to damage the target, but even to pause it to get away.
• Other issues :
Race Selection :
The Eldritch along with the Enchanter are both limited to just two race selection options. Many Eldri would like the added ability of a 3rd Eldritch race option. Shar have been the most popular suggestion for this.
Power regeneration :
The penalty for power regeneration on cloth casters is a large hindrance to their ability to get back into a fight for an extended duration after all abilities to restore power are expended. Please examine the removal of this hindrance.
1.66 Valewalker Report
• Overview :
Essentially a well balanced class, very few tweaks and changes needed to put this baby to rest for good.
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• Concerns :
Repost from previous report due to it being a pressing issue: Valewalkers (and Animists) recieve the same baseline damage shield that magician base classes recieve. This leaves the total number of classes who recieve a base DS at 5 in hibernia. Hibernia, however, lacks access to any real damage adds.
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Repost from previous report due to it being a pressing issue: The current disease proc has limited use for its reliability in any RVR situation. The last report's feedback stated "We're looking into additional changes, but right now we want to see how VWs are performing overall as more level 50s hit the rvr scene before making any large changes." As this issue is a very serious one for Valewalkers, I was curious as to an update on that.
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Repost from previous report due to it being a pressing issue: Seeing as how both the minstrel and valewalker ablatives need to be specced for, the valewalker proc needs beefing up badly. The last report stated: "Not an unreasonable suggestion but not a change we want to make until we've had more time to see VWs in action." I was curious as to an update on this situation.
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• Item Problems :
- The galladoria Alt epic has no strength or quickness, two of the primary valewalker stats.
- Glow effects for scythes are also lacking, very few have effects
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• Art Issues :
- Scythe art is severely lacking, with only 5 models or so
- Our Absorb Buff and Ablative buff have the same spell graphic.
- We hold our scythes in the wrong hand, animations cause the scythe to clip through our body.
1.66 Animist Report
• 1.0 Overview
Little has changed balance-wise for Animists since my last report. We're still waiting on important bug fixes and the vast majority of Animists are still forced to specialize primarily in Arborial Mastery to feel useful. While Trials of Atlantis is a fantastic expansion, it is hard for many Animists to enjoy many of its areas because of the plethora of pathing-related bugs. Bad pathing is truly devestating to a class that relies on pathing just to nuke.
• 2.0 Concerns
2.1 Concern I – Bugs
Turrets trying to cast on things they can’t see, the constant “can’t cast in the air” messages, bombers getting stuck on keep doors (again), bombers getting stuck in mid-air, bombers running off randomly away from their target, the Verdant PBAE still not benefiting from Animist acuity and normal delve multipliers, the Wisp line not debuffing in PvE, various AI problems, etc… Animists bugs are really hurting the class. As long as they remain unfixed, Animists are going to continue to suffer even if other changes are implimented.
2.2 Concern II – Turrets Stealing Realm Points
It was discovered recently that pets that steal experience also steal realm points. This is a serious problem. Turrets are stealing as much as 50% of Animists’ realm points. Animists (Creeping and Verdant Animists especially) rely on their turrets in RvR. While the experience penalty is understandable in PvE because mobs are stupid and don’t know how to deal with turrets, a realm point penalty is uncalled for. Turrets are certainly nice in RvR, but because players are much smarter and better equiped to easily negate them, a realm point penalty is simply not deserved.
2.3 Concern III – Turrets in Trials of Atlantis
Animists are having a hard time dealing with many encounters because turrets are firing on things they aren’t supposed to. Turrets are firing on mobs that guard the Animist from leaving an encounter. Turrets are firing on mobs that are merely there to spectate an encounter. Turrets are prematurely firing on things the Animist isn’t supposed to fight until a dialogue is completed. Turrets are prematurely fighting things that are supposed to be fought in a certain order. This makes many encounters more difficult than they need to be for Animists.
2.4 Concern IV - Crowd Controlling Turrets
Nothing is more painful than watching the enemy crowd control 2.5 power bars' worth of turrets. While players get to benefit from radius reductions, resists, and possibly Determination, turrets get none of those things. While this is certainly a problem for any pet, turrets are hit far worse. Not only are FnF turrets on timers (meaning the crowd control effectively reduces the turret's active lifespan), but all turrets are stationary, meaning they only cover a certain small area. Crowd control allows the enemy to easily move through that area so that the power spent summoning those turrets goes completely wasted. At least with a normal pet, once the crowd control has faded, they can still go chasing after the enemy. With turrets, once the enemy is gone, there's no catching up.
• 3.0 Specline Issues
3.1 Specline I - Arborial Mastery
- Higher level Tangler versions remain pretty much useless.
- The baseline lifetap line lacks a 50th level version, making Animists the only caster without a 50th level baseline nuke.
- Arborial Animists have to deal with power management problems that no other nuker has to deal with because of how easily bombers can be wasted (due to both pathing and targets dying before bombers can reach them).
3.2 Specline II - Creeping Mastery
- Creeping really needs more to attract people to it. The line in general is fairly weak in its current form.
- The Sporespawn line’s duration should match the Spore Launcher line. Its current duration seems to have been implimented with the idea that people would fight around it. Just try getting an enemy to stay in a 350 radius circle in RvR for any decent length of time, let alone when there’s a big mushroom making it obvious that they shouldn’t be standing there.
- As long as the roots are on bombers, they’re going to remain severely inferior to normal roots and leave Animists with little in the ways of defense.
- The Dancing Flame line needs upward tweaking.
3.3 Specline III - Verdant Mastery
- Verdant really needs more work to make it attractive.
- The Briar Burst line must be fixed immediately. I cannot stress this enough.
- Ligneous Shields should be coordinating their efforts. Currently, multiple Ligneous Shields are useless because they all cast on the same person at the same time.
- Ligneous Shields need to be made for more effective in general. Currently they’re very expensive, but slowly cast a very ignorable effect. Even the top version, a 60hp ablative with a maximum absorbtion of 25%, is highly inneffective.
- The Emissary line needs help. Single target, short duration effects are of little use in RvR because it is very difficult to chaincast them in RvR. Sooner or later you’re going to find yourself being inturrupted or having to run away.
• 4.0 New Issues
- Root bombers have stopped casting on targets that have already been rooted. In PvE, this is truly ridiculous because a mob can be rerooted after the first breaks, it just doesn’t last as long. In RvR, this can be devestating as I might be trying to cast an AE root and while the target might be immune, those around him/her might not be.
• 5.0 Other Issues
1. The baseline root should be a 2.5s cast, not 3.0s.
2. There needs to be a way to release all FnF turrets at once.
3. There should be a way to passify all FnF turrets.
4. AE bombers that cast effects should be casting on things that already have the effect, so that those in the radius that don’t can get it.
5. We need feedback when a debuff lands successfully. Currently we only get a message if we're resisted.
6. Please ensure that all Animist changes make it into the patch notes.
• 6.0 Item Problems
- There is a huge lack of Animist drops in the old world.
- Animist gear in Darkness falls lacks Arborial and Creeping bonuses.
1.66 Blademaster Report
• Overview
The Blademaster class is currently a fairly solid class, with only a few new issues from the last report. I will mention those, as well as re-highlight the most pressing issues.
• Concerns
Effectiveness at Low Realm Ranks – Blademasters seem to come into their own in RvR after the acquisition of a number of key Realm Abilities – Purge, IP, Dodger, Determination. Prior to that, the class seems to under perform. Group utility also seemingly hinges a great deal on Prevent Flight. These requirements mean that a Blademaster has to reach a certain Realm Rank before really feeling effective in PvP.
• Old Issues
Role of Light Tanks – Blademasters seem to be adapting more to their role as an assist tank – the increased effectiveness of the Celtic Dual side chain and the fixed snare on the rear chain has been helpful. There is, however still the issue of this role being easily negated by the actions of the player enemy.
Utility – Greater uniqueness for the class, and more group utility – currently not as big an issue, especially with access to Prevent Flight – however, that is an expensive RA. This may change with the introduction of Master Level Abilities – while not unique to the class, they may help with group utility for the class.
• Specline Issues
Celtic Dual – Most pressing issue with this style line currently seems to be the Hurricane/Solar Flare chain. I have outlined in my previous reports as well as within the style review as to the uselessness of this style chain versus other anytime style chains. There is also an issue with Supernova – feedback is that it is currently fine in its current chain position. However, it fails to due greater damage than its chain predecessors, and currently has an attack speed debuff on it, which is relatively useless for a third part in a chain. A better effect and a damage increase would be more in line with a level 50 style.
General – Consensus seems to be that 2-second stuns are virtually useless, and are often more problematic than helpful, in that they give the target stun immunity, which prevents anyone from landing a longer stun. Should consider removal of these stuns and replacing them with either a longer stun, or a different effect.
Realm Abilities – There are currently a number of “problem” RA’s for Blademasters, which have been brought up for the RA review, including: Winter Moon, Whirling Dervish, Bladedance, etc. I am still getting a number of requests for Mastery of Blocking as well as Avoid Pain.
• Other Issues
- Evade is being halved versus CD/DW/LA
- This is an old issue, but important – Charge needs to not switch to sprint
- Endurance costs not adjusting with haste
- Make shields hotkeyable/swappable with the off-hand weapon
- New/more style animations
• Item Problems
- There seems to be a lack of weapon artifacts for pierce and blunt-using Blademasters, particularly those that are off-hand usable. Crocodile Tooth Dagger and Traitor’s Dagger are both slash weapons – it would be nice to see the addition of more pierce and blunt artifacts, or perhaps the option to choose damage type with the above weapons.
- Blademasters would like to have access to the Golden Spear.
- Blademasters cannot use the Golden Scarab Vest because they are considered a “tank” class, but conversely cannot use the Winged Helm because they are not a “true tank” class with heavy armor. This seems contradictory, and limits the choices for Blademasters for armor artifacts.
1.66 Warden Report
Just a heads up for you all, Mackey made a change to the report template. Now he wants us to discuss issues only and not offer up suggestions or solutions. We still discuss the solutions and suggestions in the TL forum, but no longer in the TL report.
Please hold any discussion on this report here on the discussion thread.
• Overview
Wardens are a highly desired class in both RvR & PvE. The primary reason for this desire is PBT but this is problematic for a few reasons. In terms of fun factor, its because our active role is somewhat diminished compared to other classes. Otherwise, its problematic because with everyone so focused on our PBT many wardens are left with a feeling of inadequacy or a sense of being pigeon-holed into a role in which they can't make a noticeable difference.
• Concerns
Leveraging of abilities
Our two primary active abilities, melee and healing are mutually exclusive of each other. Unlike all other hybrids (except the Friar), there is no leveraging between the two and Wardens must choose to heal or fight. Even if they chose to give up nurture and go all regrowth and weapon they can only use one or the other at any given time. This tends to cause wardens to give up one in a vain attempt to max the other for little to no gain. This giving up of one for the other adds more to the pigeon-holed feeling.
Lack of hindering ability
Wardens have no means to stop or slow an enemy from attacking a group mate nor a way to keep from being kited across the zone. More specifically, we lack things like guard which hinder the ability of an enemy to hit our group mates and we lack any form of direct hindrance, whether it be through styles or some castable form, to allow us to halt or slow an enemy from attacking someone or kiting us.
PBTs effectiveness
The many instances where this ability has been toned down since release has left a question as to it's efficacy in RvR. Since this ability provides no feedback to the chanter when it absorbs a blow, it is virtually impossible to quantify its usefulness.
• Specline Issues
Nurture
Nurture as a whole is generally looked upon as a pretty solid line whose biggest issue is with the damage add chant. This chant is relatively seen as useless not to mention the fact that it is still does not stack with the enchanter's DA buff. The sole reason that it is seen as useless is because unlike a group timered buff or a targetted conc buff, there is no way to make use of the DA chant while PBT is running, and PBT is expected.
Regrowth
There is a lack of utility or lack of value for speccing in Regrowth, especially higher levels of it. One of the major gripes is the inability to leverage that healing with our melee skills. There is no ability to heal while filling our role as a fighting class. "We're Hibernia's fighter/healer on paper, but we can't effectively fight and heal.".
Parry
There is virtually no visible benefit to speccing parry as there is with shield. This is one of the reasons many Wardens ask for shield spec. When one compares the two there simply is no comparison. Speccing in both, offers the same 0.5% chance per level to block/parry, but shield provides many options which parry doesn't. The fact that parry has no additional benefits such as a parry version of guard or an advanced parry of sorts, is seen as its biggest detriment. Lastly, parry rates degrade as the number of attackers increase, as is common in RvR. Current RvR tactics specify all melees attacking a single target which not only nullifies PBT, but also drives parry rates down to the point where nothing is parried at all. Parry is commonly used for leftover points for the most part and anything else is seen as a waste.
Weapons (General)
When it comes to weapon spec, the largest issue overall is seen as a lack of damage/weaponskill. Essentially, There is little to no return on the points invested. Over the course of leveling/speccing, Warden damage changes very little, meaning the most significant benefit we get out of speccing a weapon is the styles which brings up the next issues with Warden weapon spec. The styles are hardly complimentary of our investment and really need to be looked at and made usable. As an example, its pretty bad, that Slam (a 8 spec taunting style which incurs a medium defensive penalty) is seen as the best use anytime style in blunts or that Hib 1h weapon lines are the only ones without any rear positional or use anytime chains with snare/stun components.
Blunts
Blunts has a 4 style off block chain which is extremely difficult to complete and viewed negatively. The snare style in this line is the second style in the side positional chain and really needs to be moved to from behind so it can be effectively used.
Blades
The snare style in this line is a side positional and really needs to be moved to from behind so it can be effectively used.
• Other Issues
Intercept & Protect
Many Wardens feel that not having intercept and some level of protect takes away from out protective/defensive nature.
End Regen/Redux
Many Wardens feel that end regen and end reduction being in regrowth instead of nurture, the buff/chant line, is an issue as it makes no sense due to its combat orientation and those needing it most are least likely to get it.
Shortbow
Many feel that the lack of range or damage of the shortbow take away from its usability.
• New Issues
Realm Abilities
The community generally feels that the cost of hybrid RAs is too high considering that hybrids need to spread their RAs out to enhance two roles (healing/power vs. offense/defense) instead of one. It is also commonly felt that given the defensive nature of the class, not having Avoid Pain takes away from that.
• Item Problems
Epic Armor
Our epic armor salvages for a value substantially less (~400g) than that of similar armors (approximately half). It also 'appears' that our epic armor may have the lowest utility of any epic, by a fairly wide margin. In general, epic armor needs to be looked at in relation to ToA quest armor that is far more easily obtainable.
Crocodile Tear Ring
This item has the ability to make all chants affect all friendly targets near the caster. This item is listed as usable by focus casters & Minstrels/Skalds/Bards. Wardens find this to be a huge issue since Theurgists and Runemasters can now provide AE PBT and we cannot. We would like to have access to this artifact.
• Documentation Issues
None at this time
1.66 Druid Report + Feedback
• Overview
I asked druids about what they feel the top three RvR and top three PvE issues are that they face on a daily basis. This report focuses on the top items from that feedback.
• Concerns
1) The number one concern from druids in RvR is healing efficiency. ToA has done a lot toward helping this with the new bonuses for healing and casting speed. There is still a concern that healing will continue to be in-efficient compared to the damage being done with Caster and Melee classes increased damage from ToA bonuses also. The biggest problem is that single target heals are so much less effective in use than the Spread Heals. Due to damage that comes in AoE form either from casters or multiple melee, Spread Heal is often seen as the only viable heal for RvR.
I am in agreement here. We need to find a way to reward healers who have the where-with-all to selectively use single target heals in RvR.(which is by no means easy).
2) The number 2 concern for RvR and PvE druids is the inability to quickly tell if a group member is diseased, poisoned or under some form of crowd control. It was previously mentioned in report feedback that adding the ability to tell via the mini group window might be possible. Due to it still coming out as the number two concern, I want to keep it highlighted here on the report.
This is one of those cases where I would code this change myself if I could. After poking our lead client programmer this many times, it turned out that this requires some non-trivial server code changes. I'm staying on top of this and really want to make it happen.
3) The next issue deals with the Nurture line. Active Druid’s feel their job has partly been replaced by inactive “bots”. Once out in battle, a bot’s buffs don’t drop when the druid in the group dies. This causes people to prefer being buffed by a bot even when their own grouped druid can do it just as well. This causes active druids to wonder why they have spent so many points in a line they get little benefit from.
There are other benefits to the nurture line that cannot be obtained by a buff bot. But with that said, I really want to add more things along those lines. Hopefully soon too.
4) Identity. Druid’s on the field in RvR suffer from being easily identified and targeted for fast killing. Some druids have given up their shield in order to be a little less conspicuous. Once a druid is identified, they don’t have long to live. “/assist trains” have made it difficult for a druid to survive long in any engagement.
Less an issue for the druid then it is for the bard, but I understand the concern. Hopefully the introduction of certain MAs and artifacts will force /assist trains to think a little bit more on their feet with target selection.
• Specline Issues
1) Regrowth – The primary Regrowth line issues are addressed above. Other issues in this line are resses being over-written by a lesser res and both people loosing power for the res and interrupts that cause druids to be unable to fulfill their primary healing role. Gaining Mastery of Concentration as an RA helps druids but is very costly to obtain. The increased speed of damage that occurs in RvR makes healing even more difficult.
Resses shouldn't be over-written by lesser resses anymore. (unless they are both cast at almost the same time) See if you can confirm this is happen in 1.66 and post it on the TL bug forum.
2) Nurture – The 20 buff limit is still a problem. High Nurture druids are faced with being un-able to even cast 20 buffs.
No arguements on this. Would really like to raise the 20 buff limit, but it's in the pile of "tough technical improvement requests," so we'll have to see when/if we can get this changed.
3) Nature/Pet – DoT spells are subject to an extra resist penalty. This especially hurts Druids who spec multiple lines. The Nurture line overall is seen as lacking for druids with no real reason to spec beyond 36 for the final AoE root. The DoT damage increase is minimal (24 points more for the top DoT), the spec 29 AoE root lasts for 47 seconds, and the Damage Shield does not work well with our only method of crowd control.
You may want to talk about this extra DoT resist penalty in the TL forum, as there shouldn't be anything like this affecting RvR. (PvE is a different beast) The damage shield is something I really wanted to have changed so it wouldn't break root, but code-wise it's not feasable, so I fear we'll have to surrender on this one for now.
• New Issues
The new underwater pets in ToA are very cool looking, however they suffer a couple of problems. For one, the Octopus model is just huge trying to move around with it following is pretty awful. The shark also gets to be a hindrance in size, but the biggest issue with it is the way it swims in large circles when fighting. It seems to pulling aggro mobs that would not normally aggro due to range when using a different pet.
Noted. We'll look into these.
The second issue with the pets is that there are now no pets that can be used inside and out of the water without re-summoning to get the appropriate land/water pet. This can cause issues especially when traveling and searching for mobs (like quests) that may require you to be both in and out of the water. Would it be possible to allow at least the crocodile to work on land and in the water? Druids who need to be able to move freely could then summon till they got a crocodile.
I'll look and see if there is any way one of the water pets can be used on land as well.
• Other Issues
1) (Reminder item) Damage shield is a liability when using root for CC. It should not break root.
6) Insta Group and Single heals need icons that are different from other heals. They have been changed several times now and always changed to mimic another heal.
Noted for the icon folks. I thought the original insta heal icons were fine as they were, no?
• Item Problems
1) Empathy, while being a necessary druid stat is showing up far too frequently in large amounts on druid specific items. Three items with the commonly used 22 or 30 Empathy can cap a druid easily. With 16 item slots to work with for adding stats, Druids would like to see a little less empathy on things.
Noted for the item team.
• Documentation Issues
(None at this time)
1.66 Bard Report
• Overview :
The Bard is a powerful utility class, often times being the determining factor in the survival of their groups, both in RvR and in PvE situations. However, bards are falling more and more into Bot Status due to their low survivability, lack of practical defense, and poor ease of use in RvR due to the awkwardness of instruments and song twisting.
• Concerns :
#1 – Endurance Song – Bards continue to be triple penalized in order to provide a no-longer unique ability. Not only are bards instantly recognized due to their drums, but they are also unable to wield a weapon or shield while providing end regen (something that both other realms are able to do), and they are met with a 3 second casting time that is not only a) incredibly interruptible, but b) cannot be reduced with either dexterity buffs or Mastery of the Art. While it is understood that all realms must give something up to provide their endurance regen (concentration or power), no other realm must also sacrifice BOTH their offensive and defensive melee abilities in order to provide their groups with endurance.
#2 – Poor Interface – Bards have three instruments but only two spots in which to put them. If we are lucky enough to have the right instruments equipped, we must press a minimum of three keys in order to swap from one song to another (swap instrument, stop song, play new song). However, there are times when, in the middle of battle, a bard needs to dip into the inventory to get the proper instrument equipped and then mash their keyboard or mouse buttons in the hopes of getting the song started before getting attacked. If we happen to have lag, it just makes the job of providing regen songs to our group even more difficult. It’s been said several times and in several places that Mythic’s goal was not to place interface limitations on classes, however current interface issues do cause unfair interface limitations for instrument classes.
#3 – Recognizability in RvR Situations – Bards have no way of disguising who they are to their enemies unless they decide against providing their groups with support. Dancing like fools when starting their endurance song, the sound of the music starting, the image of their instrument in their hands, and the twinkly lights flying all around them leaves very little to the imagination. Due to their lack of defense and offense while providing group support, bards are already an easy enough kill without holding a big, twinkling target inviting the /assist train to attack.
#4 – Having Fun – Bards have an amazing amount of utility – heals, end, power, speed, buffs, mez, etc. There is no denying that bards are just about the perfect support toon. The problem is, for an active bard, the job of “barding” is usually an act of tedium and frustration. In RvR, song twisting, mezzing and healing in a group is frustrating given the amount of tasks that a bard must accomplish in a very short amount of time – especially when they are often the first target by enemies. In PvE, bards are generally completely dependant on groups to gain XP as bards are seldom able to solo decent mobs due to their low weapon skill (even if a bard foregoes their group abilities in exchange for melee). Active bards are falling by the wayside to make way for Speed/End bots because there is little benefit or reward to actively play a bard in either RvR or PvE in favor of a more “fun” class.
• Spec line Issues :
Nurture – There are three spells in the nurture spec – all of them passive abilities, all of them tied to instruments, all of them with an unmodifiable (by either dex buffs or RAs) 3 second casting time, and all of them providing little benefit to the actual bard for the amount of spec points required to get to at least speed/end 5. Speccing all the way to 43 in a spell line and only gaining the ablity to play an instrument in the heat of a heavy battle is not fun. This line is completely lacking in any spells that would require an active Bard to be at the helm, further propagating the Speed/End Bot mentality.
Regrowth – Regrowth is a largely ignored line because the benefit of the spec heals is seldom worth the cost in spec points. The heal song in this line is sorely lacking, even with a high regrowth spec – it’s more efficient to play the power song and use a group heal than it is to ever play the heal song.
Music – Bards are given one form of crowd control on a single immunity timer. Determination, resists and Purge end up rendering a bard completely useless in the CC department after the initial mez. Also, while we are playing our instruments, that bard’s one and only chance to do any damage to an enemy comes from this line in the form of their shout. Where minstrels and skalds have 2 shouts on 15 second timers, a bard has one on a 10 second timer. Even taking into account the lower recast timer, a bard still does 20% less shout damage than a skald or minstrel with the same instrument spec. While it is understood that not all realms should be mirror images, recent changes have been made to the skald’s shouts to put them in line with minstrels, further pushing the bard’s damage output behind the curve.
Weapons – Changes to the Blades line (the Return Blade style change, specifically) have left bards reeling. Generally, bards are specced low in their weapons, seldom speccing higher than 20. Many bards tend to have their weapons specced to only 5, giving them an any-time style and reactionary block style. As such, they were hit hard by the loss of their level 4 reactionary block style in blades. While bards do not generally wield their weapons in RvR, it still ends up debilitating them and their ability to slow their enemy’s attacks on the occasions when a bard needs to tank. Classes with the ability to parry generally spec their weapons significantly higher than 21 and would not have lost their reactionary block style had Horizon Blade been changed to be the Parry reactional instead.
• New Issues :
Artifact Experience – Bards, and support classes in general, have a difficult time gaining experience for their artifact items due to the fact that when they are specced to support their groups, they are seldom able to take on some of the mobs required.
• Other Issues :
- Please allow new models for player crafted instruments. [carry over issue]
- Instruments decay at an alarming rate, even at 99/MP quality. [carry over issue]
- Please allow instruments to be dyed. [carry over issue]
• Item Problems :
#1 – Artifact Instruments – Bards are, by design, completely dependant upon their instruments. While there are several support character related weapons, armor and item artifacts, there is a disappointing lack of an instrument artifact.
#2 – Instrument Charges – In order for bards to support their groups, they are giving up two chargeable/procable items in exchange for one non-chargeable/non-procable item. [carry over issue]
1.66 Hero Report
• Overview
The latest patches have not resulted in any drastic changes for the Hero class, and how master levels and new items from Trials of Atlantis will affect the class still remains to be seen. The main issues for Heroes at the moment revolve around the difficulty of obtaining endurance regeneration in RvR, balance adjustments to the various spec lines, and adding more use to several neglected attack styles and realm abilities. Furthermore, the defensive abilities available to protect group members in PvE are not nearly as useful in RvR, leaving defensive heroes at a significant disadvantage in the frontiers, compared to their offensive counterparts.
• Concerns
1. Endurance. Because Heroes are so dependant upon endurance to reach, keep up with, and attack their targets, many believe they are at a disadvantage in this area, for several reasons. First, the bard endurance song has a casting time and is easily interrupted, making the song unduly difficult to start. Second, the endurance costs on styles is extremely high, particularly shield stuns which contain no to-hit bonus. Third, the Tireless realm ability does not offer nearly enough endurance regeneration for its cost. Compared to a concentration buff, an interruptible song with a 3 second cast time, on a high-priority target class, leaves heroes at a significant disadvantage in RvR as compared to their counterparts in the other realms.
2. Many heroes do not think that they are sufficiently able to guard realm mates in RvR. The usefulness of Guard is hindered by the inability to guard realmmates outside of the hero's group. Other issues include the lack of a function for Protect against player attacks, the inability to macro /guard, the inability to guard realm mates with parry, and the limited utility of intercept with its current re-use timer. Heroes could use more tools to keep their groupmates and realmmates safe, that do not depend on achieving high Master Level Abilities.
3. Scale armor. Unlike their heavy tank counterparts in the other realms, Heroes find themselves wearing armor that is vulnerable to the damage type wielded by an overwhelming percentage of their melee enemies. This is not just because of scale’s slash vulnerability, but due in large part to the other incentives to train in slash weapons in these realms. As a result, many Heroes have chosen to wear reinforced armor in RvR, or a combination. This problem is compounded by the relatively exorbitant price of crafting scale armor; for three times the cost of reinforced, it offers little to no extra protection to a typical Hero in RvR.
4. A number of realm abilities are problematic; they either cost far too many points for their value, or simply have no value at all. The unique “Razorback” ability is Exhibit A; for 10 points, this ability is nowhere near worth the cost; the consensus among heroes is that this realm ability is almost useless, and certainly not worth spending ten realm ability points on. Other problematic realm abilities include Tireless, which does not provide sufficient endurance regeneration to justify training past level 1. Battle Yell, Second Wind, Grapple, and Trip are almost never trained, as they cost far more realm points than they are worth in their current forms.
• Specline Issues
1. The Celtic Spear level 44/50 style chain should be re-evaluated, as it does not measure up to even the level -six- rear-positional chain, which is not only easier to execute, but offers a snare debuff and excellent damage on the Javelin style. The 44/50 chain requires a side-positional opener, and does not offer an increase in damage or debuff effects, that would make it more attractive than the level 6 chain.
2. The Bruiser style in the Blunt specline has a block-based chain that opens with a 2 second stun. This is virtually useless in both PvE and RvR, and generally just provides an enemy with stun immunity without any corresponding benefit.
3. The Entrap/Hunters Largesse style line for Celtic Spear is based off of evade. Because heroes only have evade 1, this line is very rarely used.
4. The short duration stun of Hibernian Vigor, the second style in the Large Weapon parry chain, makes the chain unattractive, and can in fact be detrimental for those who can use Annihilation.
5. The pierce style line lacks a parry reactionary style.
[/b]6.[/b] Shield "weaponskill" is not based upon the level at which the hero has specced shield.
7. The level 8 Blunt style and level 42 shield style are both called "Slam," which can be confusing when sifting through the jumbled style line icons.
• New Issues
No significant issues have been introduced with the last two patches.
• Other Issues
1. Short melee stuns should not overwrite an longer duration stun that has already landed on a mob.
2. The proc rate for Prevent Flight is too low for two-handed weapon users. The effective proc rate for dual-wielding classes is several times higher than for two-handed weapon users, who are not only swinging half as many weapons, but more slowly.
3. Because many heroes have spec points in multiple weapon lines, the styles lines can be difficult to keep organized in the style list window.
4. The guard, protect, intercept and engage icons are all the same color scheme and can be difficult to tell apart in combat.
1.66 Ranger Report
http://larianlequella.com/tl/november.html
If you just want the words and such (with no formatting), here they are:
• Overview
Overall, Rangers are a very good archer class. While as an archer class, there may be a feeling of some level of completeness, there are still many archer issues that need to
be hammered out. Furthermore, many archers are disappointed by the inattention to archer issues in Trials of Atlantis, especially when previous feedback
indicated some redress (Please take a moment to look over past reports and the feedback received,
I intend to keep building in these reports instead of repeating them.). So while the Ranger is a good archer class, the fact remains we are too often
placed in situations we are not meant to be in, or able to survive in, making players so frustrated that they throw their arms up and would rather just walk away.
Adding to that frustration is the (nearly) total inability for archers to get groups. Furthermore, something needs to be done about buffbots. It is
creating two totally different games for archers who have them, and archers who don't.
• Top Four Concerns
1.) Group Desirability : This STILL remains a Top Concern, even with the release of ToA, and bears repeating. While there were "custom" master levels
for Casters, Healers, Tanks, and Assassins, no such Master Level was clearly an archer track. A Bard Sojouner is still much more desirable than a Ranger
Sojouner in any group configuration. As a grouping game, archers are seriously left behind in this regard, and continue to fall further behind. As a community, rangers and
archers have made many reasonable suggestions, and are willing to speak to them at length.
2.) Pathfinding Effectiveness : The effectiveness of this spec line are still very pertinent points to bring out.
This specialization line is currently underperforming with respect to other classes’ (champion, thane) self-buffs, and often
not considered worth the spec point investment by many players. Many options lie open here for improving concern number one as well.
3.) Catch-22 : All too often, archers are forced into situations they are not equipped to survive. While stealth does allow us to pick our
own battles, we are so easily uncovered by assassins that we must be able to melee, but that puts us at a point that we must give up on other skills in order
to compete. Our ranged attacks have the potential to be negated by all classes in the game unless we make sure to spec our bow skill very high, but then that
leaves us vulnerable due to lack of melee skills and stealth. Thus a vicious cycle of never having the right tools available to us for any situation. Sadly, this vicious
cycle is exasperated by not being able to find groups to make up for our lack of appropriate tools. Addressing issues such as Group Desireablity, Pathfinding,
and even Buffbots could do a lot to alleviate this Catch-22.
4.) Buffbots : A continuation of discussions held in other forums. For stealth classes in particular, buffbots are indeed an imbalancing concern, and something
must be done to redress this issue. Furthermore, buffbots really affect all classes in a way, and "elegant" solutions would benefit the
enjoyment factor of the game for all.
• Specline Issues
1.) Recurve Bow : Many still perceive that this spec line is lacking in overall utility. The Specialty Arrows suggested by the player base will
go a long ways to solving this perception. Penetrating arrow and Rapid fire are very nice additions, but fall short of being actual "styles" for bows.
Also, many wonder why do archers outright miss when taking the extra time to line up and concentrate on a Crit Shot?
2.) Pathfinding : This specialization line is currently underperforming with respect to other classes’ (champion, thane) self-buffs, and often
not considered worth the spec point investment by many players. The utility of this line is especially jeopardized recently by the availability of
redundant alchemy charges (11 dps damage adds for instance), the proliferation of “buffbot” characters, and the fact that rangers must spread 2.0x
spec points into 5 key spec lines – a situation that no other class in the game suffers from. Additionally, it has been confirmed through testing by
several players that the Pathfinding armor factor buff is not functioning as intended, and does not increase AF beyond the base cap, despite the
insistence that this is merely a display error.
3.) Stealth : Many of the "missing skills" for the ranger class can be placed in the stealth category. As it stands,
there is very little motivation for rangers to even spec in stealth beyond whatever level the ranger needs to accomplish
minor tasks. “Group" or "Melee" Oriented rangers go so far as to totally ignore this skill
due to the lack of returns.
4.) Celtic Dual : Anxiously awaiting the style review. The styles need to compliment the weapon lines available to all classes that use Celtic Dual.
5.) Blades : Anxiously awaiting the style review. Very few styles are even usable by rangers as it stands.
6.) Pierce : Anxiously awaiting the style review.
• New Issues
1.) Atlantean Blues : Again, the lack of an Archer Based Master Ability track, combined with the skills given to
many other classes seem to make archers even less desirable. The legendary items in Atlantis
also hinder our survivability if we equip them (i.e. Legendary Bows have +28 con on them, making archers the only classes that con-debuffs themselves when switching to melee.
(Unless you have redundant con bonuses on your melee items, which is good, but then you're wasting valuable places for SCing which Rangers can't afford.)).
2.) Buggy : Numerous test have shown that Quickness is effectively capped at 250 (only stat with such a cap). Is this by
design, or another bug? Numerous tests have shown that evade rates are halved against dual wielding opponents. Is this designed or a bug?
3.) Realm Ability Review : Anxiously awaiting this review as well. Herald feedbacks with the same topic over and over are clogging my inbox, and
the points are very valid (Duelist's Reflexes!).
• Other Issues
1.) Dead Horse Patrol : Evades and incredibly high block rates of arrows are still a major concern. Test show that an AFK person can
block upwards of 80% of arrows just standing there (without using engage). Assassins Evading arrows without dropping stealth is also a concern, as
well as the incredibly high rates of evade versus arrows.
2.) Viability Through Ream Ranks : Sadly it takes RR5+ (even RR7+) for an archer to be viable against the most basic opponents.
This is a path that both players and I (as their voice) have serious issues with. Addressing lack of skills, groupability, and survivability
are the only answers to this concern. The tests by the Hunter Team Lead support this concern.
3.) Tracking : Is there a timeline available for this (in the broadest sense)? I know many are anxiously awaiting any word on this (along with many other skills!)!
4.) Line of Sight : ALL (taller) ranged classes are looking forward to having their eyes transplanted from their knees to their
heads, where they belong!
5.) Skill Dilution : Another Dead Horse topic. Rangers still need all 5 skills to be viable, yet we only receive 2.0 spec points, leaving
our 5 skills diluted when compared to other (archer) classes who only have 4 skills to spec.
6.) Lack of Options : With Endurnace burnout, your feedback said that we should melee (which we are not built to survive), and many
archers would rather stay out of the thick of the battle. There needs to be something that we can actually DO from range if we are out
of endurance (or a reduction in endurance cost of arrow shots).
7.) Critical Shot : It has been asked why archers completely miss their targets after spending extra time
lining up a shot. While making critical shot work 100% of the time isn’t right, there are suggestions that if the
critical shot misses, it should do normal damage instead of being a miss (unless bladeturned or all damage is
absorbed by armor); in other words, it should never completely miss the target. This is more of an adjustment to
a base ability to address weaknesses in the class overall.
8.) Specialty Arrows : We still want Specialty Arrows! While not an issue of survivability, groupability, or missing skills, at
least there is a fun factor for archers here (something severely lacking right now for the average player).
9.) More Style : Aside from a functional quiver, a graphical one is highly desireable. As well as animations for volley, longshot, going into stealth,
and other "fluff". An active icon for Rapid Fire and Truesight would also be nice graphical additions.
10.) Merchants : There are no arrow merchants available for housing. Also, in order for (high level) crafters to make arrows and high level bows,
a house needs a Grandmaster Merchant (for the high level items) and an Apprentice Merchant (for arrow items), taking up two spots for just a few items.
• Item Problems
1.) Atlantis Items : The information on the delved legendary bows show the damage/debuff effects have a range of 350
while archers are still getting hit by reactive procs at full range from enemy targets. The crafting of Legendary items seem inconsistent as far as
the quality of an item compared to the difficulty/value of the item.
2.) Not Being Able to Craft Procs on Bows : Why bows should be excluded from having procs crafted on to them is a complete and utter
mystery to me and the playerbase. The dropped bows that have procs clearly show this is possible.
3.) New Keep Designs : Getting any sort of LOS once the enemy is in the courtyard is either nearly impossible, or certian death by
exposing our position (as well as our realm mates). Defining skills such as volley do not work at that range either.
• Documentation Issues
Realm Ability Herald Documentation: The Herald is showing old values for Longshot and Volley costs.
1.66 Enchanter Report
• Overview -
Enchanters, like most mages, still suffer from low survivability, easily attainable high magic resists in RvR, and unusually high resist rates in PvE. Mana recently was re-balanced, while some of the changes were much needed to the overpowered aspects of the line, many Enchanters feel that certain changes were overdone. However, with the release of TOA, Enchanters are hopeful that there will be resolutions forthcoming via ML's and Items.
• Concerns -
1.) Recent resist changes are inadequate. The most recent resist system changes did little to help the plight of most casters; in truth, the Enchanters' class specific RA took the largest hit of any of the resist changes. While this does help Albion and Midgard casters, who face the extremity of resists BAoD could cause, it had a minimal impact to Hibernian mages' resist concerns.
2.) Pets being ignored in RvR. The primary concern of all pet classes (with the exception of the Theurgist) is the ease at which pets are kept CCed during a battle. This causes pets to take a low priority since all they require is 1 spell to remove them from the fight. Indeed, many Enchanters go through whole battles watching, as their pet takes no actions throughout the ordeal. Resists casted on pets do not seem to modify the pets’ CC duration in RvR, and with no innate resists for pets, this is a very large concern for the majority of pet users.
3.) Resist rates are exceptionally high in PvE encounters for mages. Whether high level or mid level, mages are seeing extremes of resist rates in PvE. Since the release of ToA, casters are finding it even more difficult to participate in the majority of Master Level or Artifact encounters due to full resist rates, which are far higher than melee miss rates. Many battles we go through two or three powerbars without a single spell landing. This requires mages of all kinds, to enter attack mode with their staves, to contribute to a PvE battle.
4.) The rate at which casters are negated is extreme. With prominent end regen, high level determination tanks, high magic resists, and the unfriendly interrupt system, casters feel that it’s too easy to negate their damage output. However there's much hope that TOA will help even these areas out with abilities like "Bodyguard" and the caster enhancement bonuses on items.
• Specline Issues
Enchant :
The enchantment line lacks the DPS to keep up with the other two lines, or versitility to compensate for the lack of damage. The pet, which is the primary form of attack for this spec, is more easily negated by CC than players. There are also issues with using the last level DA and rebuffing a group of players. This can take 1-2 powerbars every 10 mins. Simply put, we don't have enough mana to keep up with the demand. It's an incredibly tedious process, which could be made more user friendly. The DA we receive in this line tends to turn us into a "one trick pony".
Light :
Light is currently one of the Enchanters' better lines for RvR. The issues here stem from the easily attainable heat resist against Hibernians in the game. Currently, heat is the lowest tier of the three resist buffs that it corresponds to (Heat/Cold/Matter), it's much easier to gain a 16% or 24% heat resist buff from an support class, than it is a Cold or Matter resist buff from the same class. This is furthered as an issue because most Friars spec high in Enhance for their Friar abilities, and most Shamans spec high in Augmentation for the endurance regen. Since those are specs typically seen as needing to be high for the viability of those two classes, it means the heat resist buff in Albion/Midgard is more common, and at a higher value than the opposing (Body/Spirit/Energy) buffs.
Mana :
Recently mana had the FDS toned down to acceptable levels in PvE, however there were no changes made to improve its already low RvR capabilities to compensate. This limits the RvR utility of the mana line, especially considering the small number of spells mana currently receives. Resist debuff durations are still shortened based on other resists the target has, energy in our case, causing the already short 8 second heat debuff to last 3-4 seconds in some cases, which is too extreme.
• New Issues
1.) Many mobs in TOA are 100% magic immune, immune to a specific magic damage type, or perform a counter attack to magic used against them. However there are very few, if any, mobs where magic attacks are a requirement (which would counteract this issue).
2.) You can currently use the pet to pull underwater mobs to the edge of land, and kill the mobs, while the caster is out of harm’s way, and the pet fights in the water. If the pet dies, those mobs cannot move to land, and so wait for the Enchanter to return to the water.
3.) BAoD’s new effect has been largely diminished in most situations, especially when compared to a similar ability like BoF.
• Other Issues
1.) The DPS and attack speed debuff should be able to crit with Wild Arcana, however enchanters can't get the WA Realm Ability.
2.) Warden DA is still not stacking with Enchanters DA
3.) A release animation other than death for pets.
4.) Attack speed debuffs and DPS debuffs currently offers no "Success" print out message in the chat box unless you're close enough to the target.
• Item Problems
- No new item issues.
• Documentation Issues
- The damage type for our resist debuffs is set incorrectly on the Herald spell listing. It should be (Energy) and not (Generic).
Specline Issues.
1.66 Hibernian RvR Report
Hibernia is a strong RvRing realm. The abilities of classes are concentrated so that a few classes played by experienced players can form the foundation of an excellent RvR group.
In addition to a couple things that need adjustment from the last TL report, there are issues that have arisen since ToA.
Stealth Users' Desirability in Groups
With the advent of Stealth Lore, Prescience Node, and other MA/artifact-based reductions of the 'invisibility' skill available to stalker classes, the role of a ranger and nightshade in common RvR groups needs to be more unique/clearly defined.
Bounty Point Usage
The secondary rewards (bounty points) are not valuable enough to reward more casual players, and
Caster's Role in RvR
With the levels of Determination, Prevent Flight, and the still-high resistance rates, casters roles are diminished in smaller-scale RvR. With casters only being able to do damage while not being interrupted (and have available mana), their role is generally kept for large-scale encounters not available at some times or some servers.
Master Abilities, Artifacts and RvR
There are some concerns from the Hibernian RvR community on the MAs' and Artifacts' influence on the tide of RvR. The availability of high-powered MAs such as Prescience Node, further increases the disparity between the casual gamer and powergamer.
Other Issues
- Casters and Healers need some form of indication that they are being guarded/intercepted and are/are not close enough for it to take effect.
- There has been expressed interest in allowing the Realm Level advancement of characters beyond Realm Rank 11.
 En espérant que ce soit plus clair.
(Pfff, un peu (Beaucoup) lourd de mettre des balises manuellement à quasiment chaque mot. )
__________________
# DAOC, Broceliande
Koubiak Munchakian, Lurikeen Champion
Highglandeur Menelmacar, Enchanteur Enchantements ; navré pour cette erreur de jeunesse
Azshara, Lurikeen Mentaliste
Et d'autres.
# WAR
Klormir Biakuzolm, coquet, vaniteux et odieux Prêtre des Runes
Kazshan Biakrozeld, idem, mais en plus hautain, Guerrière-fantôme
# EVE
Korb Biakustra, Amarr aveugle
Biakuzokm, Gallente hautain
# GW2, Vizunah's square
Michèle Galupin, Norn Gardienne
Gideon Biakustra, Asura Envoûteur
|
06/12/2003, 17h40
Je rajouterai les feedbacks lorsque je les trouverai.
En espérant que ce soit plus clair.
)
