Version 1.10.7 - Balance update (In progress)

Awrath · 01-31-2014, 11:57 PM

Glad to see some consideration for balance.

In my opinion there are a few fundamental changes that need to take place before balance of spells and subclasses can even be considered. Two very important concepts are flawed and any attempts to balance with these flaws will prove difficult.

The first is the current armour system. Absolute damage reduction needs to go, because the net effect of it is what we see today, knights being hit for 20-30 by archers while they are under defensive stance, the spell itself is only OP due to absolute damage reductions. In the current state balance is skewed further by those with good gear vs those with bad gear. The reason why we have people paying $200 for dragon amulets is because of the significant benefits it provides vs this current armour system, in comparison to "normal" gear.

The second step that needs to taken is getting rid of shared spell trees. As long as these exist it will be difficult to balance individual subclasses. For example, parabolic shot on archers, while it is a very useful spell, I don't think that marksmen require that insane gain in range from parabolic level 5. With separate spell trees these spells can be tweaked to offer different end results to each individual subclass.

After these two things are done, then you can consider balancing spells and subclasses, as the steps taken from that point will be a hell of a lot easier.

Once that's done, there needs to be adjustments made to the duration of certain stun spells (dist shot, roar), duration of darkness. I still think for RvR purposes knocks are far too long in duration (yeah hate lvl 5 knock spammers) and 4 seconds is more than enough for a knock. What I would rather see with knocks is reduced CD/Mana cost per level rather than increases in duration.

The big balance issue however is mages. Since the raise of level cap to level 60 (And the introduction of 20 power points for all that further skewed balance), every other class has gained more damage, however mages still lag behind. The fact that if you have too many warlocks, there's no point in casting lighting/ice blast on the same target is a big let down.

I agree that the duration of camouflage is too long, and I also agree that the duration of stalker is too long. Both of these spells used in combination at level 5 = unlimited invisibility.

DI needs a reduction in duration, and it needs an animation that is visible 100% of the time, as it sucks when you turn to ambush a DI barb, and the next thing you see is kick (5).

The range that marksmen have available needs to be reduced.

Protect ally needs a bit more range and needs to be an instant spell to be more useful in war. In it's current it can only be used in 3 situations. The target is knocked, the target is still, the target is running towards you and you towards them. If they are running away from you, even if they are 2m in front of you, by the time you cast they are out of range.

With the introduction of dual wield you increased barbarian DPS greatly, without considering the impact it will have on war. This needs to be looked at.

I'm sure there's more but that's all I can think of for now.

01-31-2014, 11:57 PM	#12
Awrath Master Join Date: May 2010 Location: England Posts: 455	Glad to see some consideration for balance. In my opinion there are a few fundamental changes that need to take place before balance of spells and subclasses can even be considered. Two very important concepts are flawed and any attempts to balance with these flaws will prove difficult. The first is the current armour system. Absolute damage reduction needs to go, because the net effect of it is what we see today, knights being hit for 20-30 by archers while they are under defensive stance, the spell itself is only OP due to absolute damage reductions. In the current state balance is skewed further by those with good gear vs those with bad gear. The reason why we have people paying $200 for dragon amulets is because of the significant benefits it provides vs this current armour system, in comparison to "normal" gear. The second step that needs to taken is getting rid of shared spell trees. As long as these exist it will be difficult to balance individual subclasses. For example, parabolic shot on archers, while it is a very useful spell, I don't think that marksmen require that insane gain in range from parabolic level 5. With separate spell trees these spells can be tweaked to offer different end results to each individual subclass. After these two things are done, then you can consider balancing spells and subclasses, as the steps taken from that point will be a hell of a lot easier. Once that's done, there needs to be adjustments made to the duration of certain stun spells (dist shot, roar), duration of darkness. I still think for RvR purposes knocks are far too long in duration (yeah hate lvl 5 knock spammers) and 4 seconds is more than enough for a knock. What I would rather see with knocks is reduced CD/Mana cost per level rather than increases in duration. The big balance issue however is mages. Since the raise of level cap to level 60 (And the introduction of 20 power points for all that further skewed balance), every other class has gained more damage, however mages still lag behind. The fact that if you have too many warlocks, there's no point in casting lighting/ice blast on the same target is a big let down. I agree that the duration of camouflage is too long, and I also agree that the duration of stalker is too long. Both of these spells used in combination at level 5 = unlimited invisibility. DI needs a reduction in duration, and it needs an animation that is visible 100% of the time, as it sucks when you turn to ambush a DI barb, and the next thing you see is kick (5). The range that marksmen have available needs to be reduced. Protect ally needs a bit more range and needs to be an instant spell to be more useful in war. In it's current it can only be used in 3 situations. The target is knocked, the target is still, the target is running towards you and you towards them. If they are running away from you, even if they are 2m in front of you, by the time you cast they are out of range. With the introduction of dual wield you increased barbarian DPS greatly, without considering the impact it will have on war. This needs to be looked at. I'm sure there's more but that's all I can think of for now.