Warmasters Review from a Conjurer's Perspective

[AariEv]

This is long so bear with me. I would post all of this in the "official warmasters topic" but it's too much information and it might derail the thread. Anyway, I currently have a level 53 conjurer (Aasiora, the only character I play) and there are several things that I feel need to be discussed.

First, I was taking a look at the experience ranking charts and I noticed that there is at least 2 players who have reached level 60 in all classes except for conjus (on horus). In fact, conjurers on horus generally have a much lower level than everyone else currently. Why is this? I think the reason that conjurers haven't been leveling up like all the other classes is because they have arguably become the most difficult class to grind. As it is, there are two main ways to level a conju and both methods are seriously flawed. If you take a look at the Nemon server, the highest level conjurer there is 56 at the moment.

Conjurer Support Grinding/RvR

Support has been bugged ever since I started playing Regnum and that was one year ago. Whenever a conju heals/buffs an ally in war/grind, he or she is supposed to receive rps/xp for contributing. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen the majority of the time. In fact, there is a simple way to stop a support class from "leeching" off of another player: all the other player needs to do is use a spell.

For example, I can buff/heal one warrior that then kills 4 players and I will get no regnum points. I don't get any points because the warrior killed all 4 players with a spell. Once a spell is used, all points that I deserve for support disappears and I get nothing. This bug should be fixed as soon as possible. Perhaps then we'll see more support grinders who can level without a big party. As it is, the only way I can get xp from players is if I skill for auras/buffs/areas and other spells that gather lots of xp/rp. I shouldn't have to do this; I shouldn't have to reskill for protection dome, mana pylon, mana communion, and level 5 buffs just to get xp from players. Maybe this is not NGD's intent, but I believe I should be able to get some points for having my normal support setup that usually helps my zerg more than any other.

From what I've seen, it seems that the only way for a level 50+ conjurer to get xp is by grinding with a large party with auras/areas/buffs. Perhaps this is fine on Ra as the server has a large population, but on Horus and other servers such as Nemon, it's not. At least in syrtis, large grinding parties (around 8 people) are rare. Because of the warmasters update, many players decided to form large parties, but now the grinding has slowed down and these large parties are becoming more scarce (at least during the timezone that I play in).

Conjurer Solo Grinding

Just as support grinding is flawed, solo grinding has also now become flawed. I assume that NGD forgot to raise the level cap of summons. Thus, my golem only does about 80 damage on mobs (I'm level 53) and I assume that the damage will slowly decrease as I level up and the mobs I grind on get harder. Even with extra power points from the later levels, the Mental discipline is not enough to grind. Staffmastery is an option, but this only makes 'good' grinding if you have an uber staff. Since most don't, it's not satisfactory.

There is also another bug which hasn't been fixed yet. When I grind, it is very easy for my golem to glitch and become permanent. I'm not sure what exactly is the cause of the bug, but it usually happens when I cast the "Summon Golem" spell when there is one already summoned. At first I used to relog when my golem became permanent, but now the bug is so common that I'd be relogging every 5 min because of it. Many times solo hunters have tried to kill my conju while grinding and they end up failing; they attack me and I kill them. Most times, my golem was glitched and therefore permanent. While I could probably still kill them even if my golem wasn't permanent, the fact that it was still technically gives me an advantage. I won't pretend that I don't enjoy this bug; grinding is much easier with a permanent glitched golem, but this needs to be fixed ASAP.

War Grinding

When this became live on Amun, I really enjoyed the idea of it. Now that it's on the live servers, I don't. Why? For some reason, NGD decided to remove grp experience from war xp. I understand if they don't want players to level too fast, but it was more balanced with a grp bonus in my opinion. This way, support players would get more than 50 xp for supporting players. This also kind of has to do with the support bug I mentioned above.

Bringing back grp experience would actually be more balanced for all players and would encourage war. In fact, it might even then become possible to level up through war instead of constant grinding on mobs. Thus, the players who reach level 60 through war will actually be "Warmasters" instead of the "Grindmasters" who've basically murdered 1000000000000 mobs.

Balance

Now that NGD has given players 20 more pp and 10 extra levels, there needs to be another balance update. I have screenshots of a level 60 barb killing my character in 2 hits (with a full energy barrier). Since my character has 3400 hp current in addition to the 1000 hp from energy barrier, this would mean that the barb did an average of 2200 damage per hit. I just had to mention this because it's insane.

There are tons and tons of topics in various sections of these forums that talk about things that need to be changed. Things like: Burst of Wind, Confuse, hunter design, etc

--------------------

I could write much more about this update, but I think I've already written an essay. sorry for the typos if there are any.

[_Seinvan]

Originally Posted by Aarisewan

This is long so bear with me. I would post all of this in the "official warmasters topic" but it's too much information and it might derail the thread. Anyway, I currently have a level 53 conjurer (Aasiora, the only character I play) and there are several things that I feel need to be discussed.

First, I was taking a look at the experience ranking charts and I noticed that there is at least 2 players who have reached level 60 in all classes except for conjus (on horus). In fact, conjurers on horus generally have a much lower level than everyone else currently. Why is this? I think the reason that conjurers haven't been leveling up like all the other classes is because they have arguably become the most difficult class to grind. As it is, there are two main ways to level a conju and both methods are seriously flawed. If you take a look at the Nemon server, the highest level conjurer there is 56 at the moment.

Yep.

Conjurer Support Grinding/RvR

Support has been bugged ever since I started playing Regnum and that was one year ago. Whenever a conju heals/buffs an ally in war/grind, he or she is supposed to receive rps/xp for contributing. Unfortunately, this doesn't happen the majority of the time. In fact, there is a simple way to stop a support class from "leeching" off of another player: all the other player needs to do is use a spell.

For example, I can buff/heal one warrior that then kills 4 players and I will get no regnum points. I don't get any points because the warrior killed all 4 players with a spell. Once a spell is used, all points that I deserve for support disappears and I get nothing. This bug should be fixed as soon as possible. Perhaps then we'll see more support grinders who can level without a big party. As it is, the only way I can get xp from players is if I skill for auras/buffs/areas and other spells that gather lots of xp/rp. I shouldn't have to do this; I shouldn't have to reskill for protection dome, mana pylon, mana communion, and level 5 buffs just to get xp from players. Maybe this is not NGD's intent, but I believe I should be able to get some points for having my normal support setup that usually helps my zerg more than any other.

From what I've seen, it seems that the only way for a level 50+ conjurer to get xp is by grinding with a large party with auras/areas/buffs. Perhaps this is fine on Ra as the server has a large population, but on Horus and other servers such as Nemon, it's not. At least in syrtis, large grinding parties (around 8 people) are rare. Because of the warmasters update, many players decided to form large parties, but now the grinding has slowed down and these large parties are becoming more scarce (at least during the timezone that I play in).

If you want to get exp from support, you need to buff the party/player you're supporting while they're in a fight with a mob, which is retarded. Plus a recast of the buff is necessary every time I want to earn ex. I wholeheartedly agree that support grinding is flawed. I can't believe I'm supposed to help other people when it's so inefficient for myself. You're correct about the party issue on Horus. I had one great grind party, makes me wish I had a scroll then.. but I've gone from 50 to 51 just from supporting others, and I still intend to do so from now on.

Conjurer Solo Grinding

Just as support grinding is flawed, solo grinding has also now become flawed. I assume that NGD forgot to raise the level cap of summons. Thus, my golem only does about 80 damage on mobs (I'm level 53) and I assume that the damage will slowly decrease as I level up and the mobs I grind on get harder. Even with extra power points from the later levels, the Mental discipline is not enough to grind. Staffmastery is an option, but this only makes 'good' grinding if you have an uber staff. Since most don't, it's not satisfactory.

There is also another bug which hasn't been fixed yet. When I grind, it is very easy for my golem to glitch and become permanent. I'm not sure what exactly is the cause of the bug, but it usually happens when I cast the "Summon Golem" spell when there is one already summoned. At first I used to relog when my golem became permanent, but now the bug is so common that I'd be relogging every 5 min because of it. Many times solo hunters have tried to kill my conju while grinding and they end up failing; they attack me and I kill them. Most times, my golem was glitched and therefore permanent. While I could probably still kill them even if my golem wasn't permanent, the fact that it was still technically gives me an advantage. I won't pretend that I don't enjoy this bug; grinding is much easier with a permanent glitched golem, but this needs to be fixed ASAP.

I haven't experienced the higher leveling grinding yet, but from what I hear it's rather terrible; with broken summon levels and SM being shitty etc. I hope this balance update comes soon or else we conjurers are going to be drastically behind everyone else in terms of level. If I want to grind efficiently on a Conjurer I have to be constantly clicking buttons, which is tedious and very annoying. Even support grinding is similar.

I too was worried about abusing the Summon bug, so I waited until the Golem Summon spell was off of CD to recast so I figured I'd be ok. But I reported the bug, even bothered to make a forum post referencing it with a screenshot and everything, and it still wasn't updated, so I figured whatever, free golem!

War Grinding

When this became live on Amun, I really enjoyed the idea of it. Now that it's on the live servers, I don't. Why? For some reason, NGD decided to remove grp experience from war xp. I understand if they don't want players to level too fast, but it was more balanced with a grp bonus in my opinion. This way, support players would get more than 50 xp for supporting players. This also kind of has to do with the support bug I mentioned above.

Bringing back grp experience would actually be more balanced for all players and would encourage war. In fact, it might even then become possible to level up through war instead of constant grinding on mobs. Thus, the players who reach level 60 through war will actually be "Warmasters" instead of the "Grindmasters" who've basically murdered 1000000000000 mobs.

Also agree here. I was really excited on Amun for the war exp and that wars would finally be more popular on Horus. Bringing back group experience would be great, but I also feel it would level chars too fast and increase the desire for farming at forts. I suggest adding the GRP bonus to support spells (OWTH, auras, heals, buffs etc) which will encourage players to work together to get a higher group bonus.

Balance

Now that NGD has given players 20 more pp and 10 extra levels, there needs to be another balance update. I have screenshots of a level 60 barb killing my character in 2 hits (with a full energy barrier). Since my character has 3400 hp current in addition to the 1000 hp from energy barrier, this would mean that the barb did an average of 2200 damage per hit. I just had to mention this because it's insane.

There are tons and tons of topics in various sections of these forums that talk about things that need to be changed. Things like: Burst of Wind, Confuse, hunter design, etc

Let's not start another BoW/Confuse thread, but ye, Kyrottimus maxed a South Cross today for about 3.4k damage, which could insta-kill me if left without a barrier. Even with barrier, I'd be brought down to nearly 1/3 of my normal hp. But yep, the balance update needs to happen before every barb is able to do 1k normals with lvl 5 knocks and roars, every hunter is running around with Confuse(5), every marks has BoW(5) etc.. Balance does notmean everyone is overpowered. This seems like an obvious mistake that NGD seemed to have looked right over, and that was a big mistake.

[Lostican]

So much there I don't even know where to begin to touch on anything. I agree completely.

All this that you have said Aasi, has also led to another issue that is driving me friggin' insaine.

Now at war its about getting the kill...for the quest. Half the time we skip getting a fort just to get kills? IDK...this makes no sense.

All I know is the game has changed. I like some parts...but dang...its just a farming that is really going on.

When I start playing my normal hours..Sytris farms the crap out of both other realms. Later in my night...Ignis farms the crap out of us and Alsius.

There is no real fights anymore except at random places when two large groups accidently meet.

I hate farming..but I'm left with either that or hunting which I dont' really enjoy. I play this game for war...and war sux atm. How can anyone enjoy 25 vs 5??? Straying from the topic...I'll shut up now...

[ice_zero_cool]

Originally Posted by Lostican

There is no real fights anymore except at random places when two large groups accidently meet.

I hate farming..but I'm left with either that or hunting which I dont' really enjoy. I play this game for war...and war sux atm. How can anyone enjoy 25 vs 5??? Straying from the topic...I'll shut up now...

I dont know about that - at least in my timezone (GMT +1) there is rather nice war going on the last days (which is actually pretty much the first time I actively joined the fun on Horus). Pretty often we (syrtis) meet another zerg just as big as ours - in ignis and in alsius

War Grinding

When this became live on Amun, I really enjoyed the idea of it. Now that it's on the live servers, I don't. Why? For some reason, NGD decided to remove grp experience from war xp. I understand if they don't want players to level too fast, but it was more balanced with a grp bonus in my opinion. This way, support players would get more than 50 xp for supporting players. This also kind of has to do with the support bug I mentioned above.

Bringing back grp experience would actually be more balanced for all players and would encourage war. In fact, it might even then become possible to level up through war instead of constant grinding on mobs. Thus, the players who reach level 60 through war will actually be "Warmasters" instead of the "Grindmasters" who've basically murdered 1000000000000 mobs.

I agree. NGD mentioned that they want the lower lvls to join the wars earlier/faster than before. On Amun I tried my lvl 30 marks. I hit enemies with like 20 norms and 30 crits BUT I got nice exp because of the +grp bonus (Something like "38 (+GRP 235)") and I was able to grind by war really nicely. I want that "back"!!

[Burdinesku]

I want the GRP back too
In server Ra, actually, the only wars are the ping-pong ones between pp-save aggers, pn save aggers. I haven't seen a fort captured for three days, more or less.

Sorry for the mistakes.
Greetings, ausarta.

[HidraA]

Originally Posted by Aarisewan

Balance

Now that NGD has given players 20 more pp and 10 extra levels, there needs to be another balance update. I have screenshots of a level 60 barb killing my character in 2 hits (with a full energy barrier). Since my character has 3400 hp current in addition to the 1000 hp from energy barrier, this would mean that the barb did an average of 2200 damage per hit. I just had to mention this because it's insane.

Don't worry i got kiled by 3k critical from a barb that was only lvl 50...

http://img607.imageshack.us/f/criticald.png/

Some dmg are insane compared with power of heals or armors.
And noticed another think...Ignis MS works all the time true my still skin.
It's a feature in ignis?In 1 hour of war over 9 MS worked true still skin.Almoust all of them.
Syrtis MS works vary rare.(this made me to feel a bit better).

There are tons and tons of topics in various sections of these forums that talk about things that need to be changed. Things like: Burst of Wind, Confuse, hunter design, etc
.

Abouth this you told everithing..also i made lots of post that are locked or there it's not official position about conj what NGD plan to doo or how they will balance grind of them.

[Phlue4]

Originally Posted by Aarisewan

Even with extra power points from the later levels, the Mental discipline is not enough to grind. Staffmastery is an option, but this only makes 'good' grinding if you have an uber staff. Since most don't, it's not satisfactory.

Why not combine these two ways of lvling?

I lvl my conju with staffmastery AND mental skills.
And it works quite well!

[e30G]

Good post! At the moment, leveling a conjurer isn't fun at all so I've decided to stay off the game until some improvements are made. Not even the new forts will draw me in until they fix Conjurer grinding.

[Zas_]

Originally Posted by HidraA

Don't worry i got kiled by 3k critical from a barb that was only lvl 50...

http://img607.imageshack.us/f/criticald.png/

On the screenshot i see 2126, still high but not 3k more like 2k.

Back to topic:

After some time of Warmasters, i see following issues:

• level 60 is much better for warriors, than archers, than mages regarding fighting
• more power points is a good thing imho, BUT some powers have to be nerfed and new powers (defence for warlocks ie.) introduced
• balance isn't as modified as i thought, barbs and marx are still OP.
• grinding is a real pain for all, but a conj without boosters will suffer too much and leave before 60 for sure.
• warmaster quests don't lead to more war, but more grinder ganking and more easy farming, almost no fort wars at the moment...
• killing 30 unique alsius is still hard on Horus, showing realm imbalance even more, most of the times ignis quest is finished in much less time than alsius one for me.
• daily trip to Fisgael (for me) is just ... boring (see related poll).
• many people prefer to grind due to boosters current behavior
• Enemy surveillance is somehow weird with new level cap almost everytime "grey", not enough steps to differentiate levels imho.
• Warmaster pieces are too heavy (especially for mages/archers), i hope this is a bug...

[LucianDeathshield]

+1

Group exp for killing enemies SHOULD be there. Besides, the whole game is about RvR right? So it should provide some decent exp.. mob grinding should only be for loots and for when there is no war