Nerfing SM

[UmarilsStillHere]

ps Where is written that Staff Mastery will be nerved? Did I miss something?

A dev wrote a while back that the SM buffs are not supposed to stack and that a mage is not ment to be played in this way (SM jock)

After that its just rumours and hope as far as I know, I may be missing something though.

Anyway...

The whole thread is based on the idea that 'Nerfing' SM would 'ruin' new mages by making it to hard to level.

Firstly with SM mages can level far faster than any other class already, closing up the gap a bit wont kill off grinders.

Secondly most mages dont even use SM untill high 20's/low 30's and even then most of the time its because someone has suggested they try it, very very often If I suggest grinding using SM they tell me they have never leveled that tree.

Also as many have pointed out here it is entirely possible to level effectively without using SM, yes it will be slower, yes it will be harder, but mages are faster and easyer than everyone else anyway, so it will only level the playing feild so to speak.

Finaly, 2 class's having to take a little longer to level vs Inter-class Balance id pick balance any time, Few can deny that a Warju at least is currently one of the most powerfull class's in the game, and is very stong vs nearly every other class.

[Angelwinged_Devil]

Originally Posted by 210paul

The whole thread is based on the idea that 'Nerfing' SM would 'ruin' new mages by making it to hard to level.

warlocks, not mages warlocks

closing up the gap a bit wont kill off grinders

how can it ever be a valid reason to say that "because it's harder to grind those classes it should be harder to grind these classes too?"

[UmarilsStillHere]

Originally Posted by Angelwinged_Devil

warlocks, not mages warlocks
how can it ever be a valid reason to say that "because it's harder to grind those classes it should be harder to grind these classes too?"

Fairness. Also because it being slightly slower to grind 2 class's dosnt out weigh the fact that in RVR SM is both very powerfull and sort of stealing a Marks Job, If my Barb could also throw his wepons over 30m at very fast speed would that be balanced as well?

And Warlocks and Conjus, meh Im not sure which would have to work harder grinding with SM gone, Support XP is rubbish, Mental isnt as strong for dmg spells as warlock trees but they have summon to make up for it.

Nerf on SM effects both class's, so Its only fair to think of what it would mean for both class's

[backe]

Everyone seems to be completely ignoring the enormous elephant in the room, so I guess I will address it myself.

The main 5 skills in question when speaking of SM mages are Arcane Acceleration, Combat Magic, and the three individual elemental damage magnifications. I'll address them in that order.

Arcane Acceleration vs. Rapid Shot

• Cheaper by 30 mana
• Has a duration/cooldown of 60/60 while Rapid Shot is 30/60
• Doesn't have a -25% Hit Chance penalty
• Is available to all mage staves whereas Rapid Shot is restricted to short bows

Combat Magic vs. Specialist/Overwhelming Strength

• Has a 15% bonus to damage which beats Specialist by 5%
• Requires only level 7 discipline while Overwhelming and Specialist are both in slot 15

Fire/Ice/Lightning magnifications vs. Warrior damage magnifications

• Has a duration/cooldown of 120/120 versus 90/120
• Does 50 points of stackable elemental damage as opposed to 75 points of physical damage
• Has a mana cost of 210 compared to 140

And just for fun...
Fire/Ice/Lightning magnifications vs. OLD warrior damage magnifications

• Both are duration=cooldown
• Both add 50 points of stackable damage
• Level 50 Mage discipline points required to get all at 5 = 33% of total points. Level 50 Warrior discipline points required to get all to 5: 85.3%
• Warrior magnifications were nerfed......

Basically, as you can see ALL of the aforementioned SM skills are better than their counterparts in almost ALL ways, the exception being the mana cost difference in the damage magnifications.

Sooooooo.....bring arcane acceleration more in-line with Rapid Shot by reducing the duration to 30 seconds. Change Combat Magic to 10% instead of 15%. Combine elemental damage magnifications into 1 skill that would max out at +75 fire/lightning/ice and reduce the duration.

[Angelwinged_Devil]

Originally Posted by backe

Everyone seems to be completely ignoring the enormous elephant in the room, so I guess I will address it myself.

The main 5 skills in question when speaking of SM mages are Arcane Acceleration, Combat Magic, and the three individual elemental damage magnifications. I'll address them in that order.

Arcane Acceleration vs. Rapid Shot

• Cheaper by 30 mana
• Has a duration/cooldown of 60/60 while Rapid Shot is 30/60
• Doesn't have a -25% Hit Chance penalty
• Is available to all mage staves whereas Rapid Shot is restricted to short bows

Combat Magic vs. Specialist/Overwhelming Strength

• Has a 15% bonus to damage which beats Specialist by 5%
• Requires only level 7 discipline while Overwhelming and Specialist are both in slot 15

Fire/Ice/Lightning magnifications vs. Warrior damage magnifications

• Has a duration/cooldown of 120/120 versus 90/120
• Does 50 points of stackable elemental damage as opposed to 75 points of physical damage
• Has a mana cost of 210 compared to 140

And just for fun...
Fire/Ice/Lightning magnifications vs. OLD warrior damage magnifications

• Both are duration=cooldown
• Both add 50 points of stackable damage
• Level 50 Mage discipline points required to get all at 5 = 33% of total points. Level 50 Warrior discipline points required to get all to 5: 85.3%
• Warrior magnifications were nerfed......

Basically, as you can see ALL of the aforementioned SM skills are better than their counterparts in almost ALL ways, the exception being the mana cost difference in the damage magnifications.

Sooooooo.....bring arcane acceleration more in-line with Rapid Shot by reducing the duration to 30 seconds. Change Combat Magic to 10% instead of 15%. Combine elemental damage magnifications into 1 skill that would max out at +75 fire/lightning/ice and reduce the duration.

you also forgot to compare the weapons each class use

[Foggia]

Originally Posted by Angelwinged_Devil

you also forgot to compare the weapons each class use

Yeah, good point. Mages weapons are usually faster and have up to 30 range without buffs.

[Angelwinged_Devil]

Originally Posted by Foggia

Yeah, good point. Mages weapons are usually faster and have up to 30 range without buffs.

same as archer's bows but they have a lot less damage

[Miraculix]

Originally Posted by backe

...

I like how mages have better spells than both warriors and archers COMBINED.

Of course, warrior weapons are much slower and melee range, not 30 range and medium, or 25-20 and fast.

Archer bows are comparable to their staves, only we don't get ANY magnifications whatsoever.

Not to mention warriors and archers have their skills split into weapon categories, but mages can use anything on any staff.

So yeah, when it comes to normal attacks, mages are atm top of the foodchain, by miles.

[Angelwinged_Devil]

Originally Posted by Miraculix

So yeah, when it comes to normal attacks, mages are atm top of the foodchain, by miles.

don't make it worse than it already is, you said it yourself either they are extremly lucky with items or have a big purse but not everyone does that and not everyone are that lucky with the boxes.

mages still have to buff up and get some nice items or it's nothing

[DkySven]

Originally Posted by Angelwinged_Devil

mages still have to buff up and get some nice items or it's nothing

Pre-1.0 archers also had to buff up. Did that make their defense less overpowered?