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Announce post #2927: Team balance update
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<pre>2/7/2019 at 4:19
Keroc, the Starborn
Everyone
Team balance update
With the release of Zealot its time we did a bit of team balancing.
A lot of this focuses upon damage becoming too prevalent as a tactic, so you'll find a lot of resistance changes to provide a bit more lenience. They're not too huge overall, but should hopefully encourage a bit more strategy in approaching group fights.
Sentinels have gotten some extra love as they're often cited as a poor choice in a team setting, so look forward to that if you're one of them.
I've also included some changes to the Templar 1v1 limb route to make them a little more evened out, and some minor downgrades to Luminary damage resistance as they have by far one of the best team toolkits. Plus, I want to get them away from sharing those particular resistances with Monk.
General
=====================
- UNENEMY and UNALLY no longer cost equilibrium to do so.
* They will still require balance/equilibrium however.
- ENEMY and ALLY now cost 1 second of equilibrium in order to declare.
* This gives a slight advantage to attackers who use surprise and/or speed.
Afflictions
=====================
- Dementia now has a 33% chance to make you say a different player name when speaking.
* Basically it will sub a said player name for another.
* The player name that gets chosen will be someone from within your location.
- Dementia no longer alters your entire sentence.
- Weariness now reduces all damage by 50%, rather then just magical.
- Weariness no longer affects passive damage.
- Sensitivity bonus is now halved when the damage does not originate from the affliction giver.
- Fear now disables BLOCK while you have the affliction.
Artifacts
=====================
- The 'grab_throw' boomerang can now be upgraded to level 2.
* Allows it to be flung in a direction without a target.
* This will cause it to grab a random enemy in that direction that doesn't have mass.
* This action has an increased balance cost compared to normal.
Battlefury
=====================
- Rupture now requires two free arms to order to use.
- Rupture is now subject to dodging and miss chance.
- Rupture now causes deep bleeding instead of normal bleeding.
- Rupture armour modifier has been increased to 20%, up from 0%.
- Rupture damage on a moderate bruising has been slightly increased.
Bladefire
=====================
- Crippled body now inherits the effects of the crippled affliction.
- Penance now procs for anybody instead of just the caster.
- Penance can no longer proc on passive damage.
- Sacrifice damage is now based on current health instead of max health.
- Hemorrhage now totals its damage from deep bleeding as well as normal bleeding.
- Removed the limb damage penalty on Trauma if the limb has no bruising.
Bioessence
=====================
- Ethereal can now be cast on others.
Dhuriv
=====================
- Increased the bleeding on Gorge to 250, up from 150.
Domination
=====================
- Removed the delay on doppleganger seek.
- ENSORCELL now only cancels if you use something that consumes balance.
- You can now use RITES, VIBES, and TRAPS through your doppleganger.
Fury
=====================
- Expunge now allows a FURY EXPUNGE BOOST option, which allows you to purge an extra random affliction.
* However, this will clear out all your accumulated fury.
Illumination
=====================
- Increased Lightshield resistance to 15%, up from 10%.
Kaido
=====================
- Increased Resistance magical resistance to 15%, up from 10%.
Naturalism
=====================
- Thorncoat damage block/return increased to 50%, up from 20%.
- Thorncoat now only lasts 10 seconds, down from 30.
- Reduced the cooldown on Thorncoat to 20 seconds, down from 60.
Necromancy
=====================
- Gravechill now grants 15% resistance to fire damage.
- Soulcage now grants additional health and mana above your max when it procs.
Psionics
=====================
- New skill: Dread.
* Can be used with Projection.
- Removed the equilibrium cost on movement in astral form.
- You can now use RITES, VIBES, and TRAPS through your astral form.
- Hold will no longer allow items to fall if you fly into the skies.
Sanguis
=====================
- Affinity now only requires you to be mutual allies for casting.
* Before, you had to remain mutual allies for the damage share to occur.
- Feast now removes the fangbarrier defence.
Sect of Blades
=====================
- You can now buy ghost arrows from the Sect of Blades shop.
* These will knock you into astral form for a short period.
* Damaging someone will snap them back into their body, otherwise you must wait for the timeout.
* Psionics will need to PSI RETURN and cannot be snapped back into their body through damage.
* Don't go too wild buying them, I'm not sure if they'll stick around just yet.
Spirituality
=====================
- Removed skill: Resistance.
- Removed skill: Toughness.
Terramancy
=====================
- Rockshower can now only be performed in an earthen environment.
- Rockshower damage has been increased if it is underground/indoors.
* You can't obtain this bonus damage if the environment was formed through Numerology Formation.
- Rockshower has a 30% chance of upsetting the balance of enemies.
- Rockshower swapped to equilibrium from balance, and is now 5 seconds.
- Earthenform now grants 10% resistance to electrical damage.
- Earthenform now persists through death as long as you are undead.
Vision
=====================
- New skill: Terraform.
Woodlore
=====================
- New skill: Might.
- New skill: Wisp.
- Hardiness damage resistance to cold and poison increased to 15%, up from 7%.
- Thornspray can now be used in Overgrowth, but it is weaker than normal.
- Thornspray now inflicts the loki venom on enemies.
- Nightingale can now heal allies as well as yourself.
Along with this, I have some big changes to the Hunting Ground items. These items are now incredibly potent in a team fight scenario, so those of you who consider yourselves top PK'ers will likely need to defend these items in the Hunting Grounds if you don't want to give your enemies an advantage.
Do note that these items are disabled in the Sect of Blades and within the arena to keep these locations competitive and sportsman-like.
Claw, sword of the Hunt
- RAISE the sword to turn the location into a state where everyone cannot be damaged below 1 hp for a short period. Has a cooldown after use.
Shade, robe of the Hunt
- You can WARP <direction> to leave a location. This action is unstoppable by most means.
Silence, cloak of the Hunt
- Makes it impossible for players to target you with ranged attacks. Indiscriminate abilities are unaffected.
Stag Helm
- You can HELM LINK <target> and then HELM PULSE to deal damage and a very brief stun from a range.
Rowan Box
- Solving this puzzle will grant your city additional ylem and give you some gold.
Night Eye Pendant
- Find the location of another and their class through all means. TOUCH it and then speak their name.
Defiant Rose
- WEAR it and receive 20% damage resistance against the last damage type that hurt you.
Ivory Bough
- POUR it UPON GROUND to instantly destroy most in-room effects. Must be dry ground. One use only.
Lastly, a lot of these changes are experimental. It comes from the request on the forum board to introduce some more powerful tools within team combat so small numbers can overwhelm bigger numbers with intelligent play. We'll see if they stick around in the long term, but just remember that change needs to begin somewhere.
Enjoy!
Penned by my hand on Gosday, the 23rd of Lanosian, in the year 478 MA.</pre>
Keroc, the Starborn
Everyone
Team balance update
With the release of Zealot its time we did a bit of team balancing.
A lot of this focuses upon damage becoming too prevalent as a tactic, so you'll find a lot of resistance changes to provide a bit more lenience. They're not too huge overall, but should hopefully encourage a bit more strategy in approaching group fights.
Sentinels have gotten some extra love as they're often cited as a poor choice in a team setting, so look forward to that if you're one of them.
I've also included some changes to the Templar 1v1 limb route to make them a little more evened out, and some minor downgrades to Luminary damage resistance as they have by far one of the best team toolkits. Plus, I want to get them away from sharing those particular resistances with Monk.
General
=====================
- UNENEMY and UNALLY no longer cost equilibrium to do so.
* They will still require balance/equilibrium however.
- ENEMY and ALLY now cost 1 second of equilibrium in order to declare.
* This gives a slight advantage to attackers who use surprise and/or speed.
Afflictions
=====================
- Dementia now has a 33% chance to make you say a different player name when speaking.
* Basically it will sub a said player name for another.
* The player name that gets chosen will be someone from within your location.
- Dementia no longer alters your entire sentence.
- Weariness now reduces all damage by 50%, rather then just magical.
- Weariness no longer affects passive damage.
- Sensitivity bonus is now halved when the damage does not originate from the affliction giver.
- Fear now disables BLOCK while you have the affliction.
Artifacts
=====================
- The 'grab_throw' boomerang can now be upgraded to level 2.
* Allows it to be flung in a direction without a target.
* This will cause it to grab a random enemy in that direction that doesn't have mass.
* This action has an increased balance cost compared to normal.
Battlefury
=====================
- Rupture now requires two free arms to order to use.
- Rupture is now subject to dodging and miss chance.
- Rupture now causes deep bleeding instead of normal bleeding.
- Rupture armour modifier has been increased to 20%, up from 0%.
- Rupture damage on a moderate bruising has been slightly increased.
Bladefire
=====================
- Crippled body now inherits the effects of the crippled affliction.
- Penance now procs for anybody instead of just the caster.
- Penance can no longer proc on passive damage.
- Sacrifice damage is now based on current health instead of max health.
- Hemorrhage now totals its damage from deep bleeding as well as normal bleeding.
- Removed the limb damage penalty on Trauma if the limb has no bruising.
Bioessence
=====================
- Ethereal can now be cast on others.
Dhuriv
=====================
- Increased the bleeding on Gorge to 250, up from 150.
Domination
=====================
- Removed the delay on doppleganger seek.
- ENSORCELL now only cancels if you use something that consumes balance.
- You can now use RITES, VIBES, and TRAPS through your doppleganger.
Fury
=====================
- Expunge now allows a FURY EXPUNGE BOOST option, which allows you to purge an extra random affliction.
* However, this will clear out all your accumulated fury.
Illumination
=====================
- Increased Lightshield resistance to 15%, up from 10%.
Kaido
=====================
- Increased Resistance magical resistance to 15%, up from 10%.
Naturalism
=====================
- Thorncoat damage block/return increased to 50%, up from 20%.
- Thorncoat now only lasts 10 seconds, down from 30.
- Reduced the cooldown on Thorncoat to 20 seconds, down from 60.
Necromancy
=====================
- Gravechill now grants 15% resistance to fire damage.
- Soulcage now grants additional health and mana above your max when it procs.
Psionics
=====================
- New skill: Dread.
* Can be used with Projection.
- Removed the equilibrium cost on movement in astral form.
- You can now use RITES, VIBES, and TRAPS through your astral form.
- Hold will no longer allow items to fall if you fly into the skies.
Sanguis
=====================
- Affinity now only requires you to be mutual allies for casting.
* Before, you had to remain mutual allies for the damage share to occur.
- Feast now removes the fangbarrier defence.
Sect of Blades
=====================
- You can now buy ghost arrows from the Sect of Blades shop.
* These will knock you into astral form for a short period.
* Damaging someone will snap them back into their body, otherwise you must wait for the timeout.
* Psionics will need to PSI RETURN and cannot be snapped back into their body through damage.
* Don't go too wild buying them, I'm not sure if they'll stick around just yet.
Spirituality
=====================
- Removed skill: Resistance.
- Removed skill: Toughness.
Terramancy
=====================
- Rockshower can now only be performed in an earthen environment.
- Rockshower damage has been increased if it is underground/indoors.
* You can't obtain this bonus damage if the environment was formed through Numerology Formation.
- Rockshower has a 30% chance of upsetting the balance of enemies.
- Rockshower swapped to equilibrium from balance, and is now 5 seconds.
- Earthenform now grants 10% resistance to electrical damage.
- Earthenform now persists through death as long as you are undead.
Vision
=====================
- New skill: Terraform.
Woodlore
=====================
- New skill: Might.
- New skill: Wisp.
- Hardiness damage resistance to cold and poison increased to 15%, up from 7%.
- Thornspray can now be used in Overgrowth, but it is weaker than normal.
- Thornspray now inflicts the loki venom on enemies.
- Nightingale can now heal allies as well as yourself.
Along with this, I have some big changes to the Hunting Ground items. These items are now incredibly potent in a team fight scenario, so those of you who consider yourselves top PK'ers will likely need to defend these items in the Hunting Grounds if you don't want to give your enemies an advantage.
Do note that these items are disabled in the Sect of Blades and within the arena to keep these locations competitive and sportsman-like.
Claw, sword of the Hunt
- RAISE the sword to turn the location into a state where everyone cannot be damaged below 1 hp for a short period. Has a cooldown after use.
Shade, robe of the Hunt
- You can WARP <direction> to leave a location. This action is unstoppable by most means.
Silence, cloak of the Hunt
- Makes it impossible for players to target you with ranged attacks. Indiscriminate abilities are unaffected.
Stag Helm
- You can HELM LINK <target> and then HELM PULSE to deal damage and a very brief stun from a range.
Rowan Box
- Solving this puzzle will grant your city additional ylem and give you some gold.
Night Eye Pendant
- Find the location of another and their class through all means. TOUCH it and then speak their name.
Defiant Rose
- WEAR it and receive 20% damage resistance against the last damage type that hurt you.
Ivory Bough
- POUR it UPON GROUND to instantly destroy most in-room effects. Must be dry ground. One use only.
Lastly, a lot of these changes are experimental. It comes from the request on the forum board to introduce some more powerful tools within team combat so small numbers can overwhelm bigger numbers with intelligent play. We'll see if they stick around in the long term, but just remember that change needs to begin somewhere.
Enjoy!
Penned by my hand on Gosday, the 23rd of Lanosian, in the year 478 MA.</pre>
2
Comments
Hi.
Golgotha, the 'equivalent', is a skill that takes an Indorani out of the fight while it's open. The pit flares slower than levitation balance, meaning anyone who actually keeps levitation up (unlike @Rijetta ) cannot be pulled in without another class who can strip levitation, or ANOTHER person keeping themselves out of the fight who is also Indorani class. This can be targeted to your enemy list, but any balance-using action (like attacking) interrupts it. The pit flares every 3 seconds, levitation sip is 1.5 seconds. So unless another Indorani more than doubles the proc rate, it will STILL be iffy on if it actually ever pulls anyone in.
One side gained the ability to banish all fighters, one has a slight buff to an ability that cannot mathematically succeed on its own. One side gained the ability to aoe fear, taking away an advantage that another (shadow) had, which is also now buffed- except the lifer equivalent can be done by a Zealot from an adjacent area so long as they leave their body behind (hi no aura!) and no risk is assumed by the user, whereas the Carnifex variant requires standing adjacent.
We gained solo block, which is great, except shaman pull requires either permanent icewall to stop, or permanent shield from everyone, which renders any attacks pointless because using them breaks shield.
To overview:
- Ranged options (non LoS):
Telepathy (Lifer-native guild), kai choke (Lifer-native guild), Psionics (Lifer-only), nature swap (Lifer-only), Sentinel archery from trees (Lifer-only), sand swap (Shadow-only), Doppleganger (Shadow-only), hound track (Shadow-only), Unravel (Shadow-only), cataclysm (split), packhowl (split)
Final tally:
Lifer: 5
Shadow: 5
Split: 2
Clarification: Unravel was added for transparency only, as it cannot be achieved from ranged, requiring patterns and the other pre-requisite afflictions. This makes it noteworthy only that it exists. I also left off traps and rites because they require lifers get there first- these are further advantages, but I'd rather say lifers have a slight edge and everyone accept it than argue about the huge edge (and difficulty in removing them) that is present with rites/traps. I also left star tarot off, because anyone can use meteor arrows (so far as I'm aware?) with archery- it might nudge things microscopically back shadow side with that, if only because you have to buy an artifact bow to meteor arrow (or play a native bow user, which Sentinel/Templar also are).
Summary: Lack of monks is something shadow side will always suffer from. Not having a guild means anyone who wants to play monk class is funneled towards Duiran by default, requiring us to apprentice for it. Monk is the most potent non-LoS class in the game, as it can do more than doppleganger can. Doppleganger is second, since it grants the option to attack, but its summon skill is blocked by the same thing that limits shaman/teradrim pull, and the doppleganger itself can be killed instantly by a 500 gold sigil.
Advantage: Whoever has the most monks (typically lifers)
- Ranged options (LoS/Adjacent): beckon aoe (lifer-only), sentinel ranged push (lifer-only), unblockable pull (lifer-only), fire damage/prone shaman (lifer-only), javelin/ranged throw LoS (lifer-only), Zealot lance (lifer-only), barge (lifer-only), beckon LoS (shadow-only), Archivist affliction (shadow-only), hammer throw (shadow-only), bonedagger (indorani), soul wail (shadow-only), snipe (shadow-native guild), beckon single (split), adduction (split), neckdrag (split)
Final tally:
Lifer: 7
Shadow: 5
Split: 3
Advantage: Lifers. Unstoppable (without a Teradrim) pull from adjacent means most of shadow's 'good' attacks can't be used without the risk of losing someone to them. Conversely, to get the same effect, some sacrificial shapeshifter has to dart in and try to neckdrag someone out while hoping they aren't one of the three lifer-accessible classes with access to forced movement immunity, and picking a target who does have it means you're stuck in the room for 4.65s. The room with all the enemies in it. The only edge shadow side has is a LoS fight, BUT LoS lure is stopped by block and icewall, neither of which can be touched from LoS. So you have to go adjacent to clear the icewall/block, then run back to LoS, which means you're going to get vinepulled instead. Javelin damage is comparable to snipe, when built for, Sentinel crossbow shots also hurt, and Zealots can be immune entirely to ranged attacks.
- Group disrupt (melee): force target call on demand (lifer only), culling blade for everyone - damnation (lifer only), passive webtell disable on demand (lifer only), defend/attack redirection (lifer only), 4s channel group banish (lifer only), room instakill - grove annihilation (lifer-only), attack immunity - blitz (lifer-only), aoe healing - spiritbomb (lifer only), aoe affliction - waterbomb (lifer only), targeted disable on entry - sentinel trap (lifer only), single target audit buff+damage reflect - thorncoat (lifer only)
single target dodge buff - ethereal (shadow only), single culling blade - rot (shadow only), single target aeon (shadow only), channeled enemy only banish that can't work unless curing is off or you stack several people on it (shadow only)
aoe aeon - wayfarer (split) cloudburst/tsunami (split), aoe aeon - retardation (split), aoe damage - holo/sing (split)
Clarification: I only bothered listing things that changed either targetting situation, or the dynamics of the group fight. I could go into details way, way, way more in a lot of ways, but the sheer amount of things here with JUST the limitation of "changes the targeting situation" or "hits everyone in a meaningful way", you can already see the clear winner.
Advantage: Lifers, with every thing Shadow has to disrupt/mess with a fight being out-shined by a better version of it on the lifer side.
Overall conclusion: Why would you ever want to fight on shadow side when everything you're capable of doing is done better by the other side? I'm perplexed as to what magical skill combination I and the rest of BL/Spines am missing that accounts for wisp, let alone the rest of these fairly clear, blatant advantages that are being under-utilized in almost every group fight. The closer to an in-room fight we get, the worse it looks for us. Our non-LoS siege is probably our best way to compete, but when fights take place in the orrery (cramped) or a lesser (5 room radius) at best, "non LoS" is a pipe dream. Additionally, our "useful" skill (doppleganger) has 3 ways to kill it, one of which is passive and one of which is a sigil anyone can buy.
I'm trying very hard to shake off the negativity from previous experiences where I felt that because we were doing well, and the other side was not, that there were steps taken to favor the losing side. I likewise keep hoping that, somehow, mage release will balance the field, but that's still a long time away, but for the lifers to get such massive buffs, especially on an already powerful group class - Sentinel - that I've only ever seen used dropping traps and using their autobasher to bounce off of my rebounding? I'm just baffled as to what we could be doing differently/better, because the already-stacked deck has become that much more in favor of light side pk.
There is also 1 active Teradrim fighter, because that guild has been dead for longer than the Carnifex.
Teradrim:
- Hammer route stacks with multiple Teradrim, but no others
- Area-wide pull if sand down, stopped by monolith
- Decent damage
- Conditional-based hinder (single target)
- High salve pressure, no aff pressure
- Varied, conditional effect from ent
- In-room ally shield
- Sand travel equiv to Flow
- Enemy damage
- Active sand spawn
Shaman:
- Instakill route using strangle
- Lightning resist negation
- Higher damage than Teradrim when appropriately artifacted
- Area-wide pull if overgrowth down, stopped by monolith
- Adjacent pull stopped only by icewall/shield
- Able to put a roof on the room
- Movement hinder (aoe)
- High affliction pressure, no salve pressure
- Periodic stun effect from ent
- Ally shield as long as ally is on overgrowth/in forest+in area
- Flow
- Songlines/Voyage
- Ally healing
- Enemy damage
- Passive overgrowth spawn
Not having a Teradrim can kill my entire group, from pull alone. Not having a Shaman means you lose access to massive artibash, but there's not much I can do to capitalize on sand in your room if you know how to spell "drop" and "monolith", maybe tossing a flame or shock sigil on there while you do.
I don't know how Shaman's pull works, but I feel it prudent to point out that Teradrim's is less a pull and more of a swap. It leaves me in the room with the enemy team.
Also, Fezzix is right.
I do not believe @Aishia was trying to compare ranged shield strip to pulling, seems more like she was just talking about options not mentioned originally. Thanks @Toz for providing a better breakdown of things mentioned.
The only mechanic/piece that I have complained about lately is gauntlet and it is gone. Otherwise, @Toz is right in that we have a horde of options available and not used. When I die, I can almost always think of something I could have done better or asked/told someone else to do(unless I die to 10 people or w/e).
Whether there are those classes available or the people have the ability to do those things on the fly or even know what it is is another story entirely.
In the end, it comes down to whether people want to learn how to use their abilities, how they interact, what situations to use them in and, of course, always working on better communication. If the answer to those items are 'no thanks', it won't matter how many options we have. I won't speak for anyone else in current Spirit faction, but I do not think more teamfight options were necessary for Sentinel - yeah they are not the most popular, but when is the last time there was a dedicated Sentinel using all manner of traps, not just noose? Organizing ranged attacks? Etc.
The 'Sentinel bouncing off of rebounding with bashing combo' is so painfully true, on a side note.
I agree there are absolutely under-utilized skills, and I know we have some (though I don't think quite so many, to be frank), but with the smaller playerbase, class a or die vs class c is a bad mechanic, simply because there might not be a class a player online at a given time.
- Deals significant spirit damage any time a chain is broken
- Requires 4 'mobs' be bashed before an exit opens
- Regular WP/END drain, so if you stay in there too long you actually get stuck
- 30ish rooms, huge area with identical room names, making chasing anyone a nightmare
Contrast this with our equivalent, Golgotha: up to 2 minute channel, interrupted by anything that takes balance (hello, spirit side having access to on-demand force and a billion balance knocks), pulses every THREE SECONDS for a LEVITATION STRIP which is a ONE SECOND BALANCE to put back up. This means that, if an Indorani puts up Golgotha, you can actually just ignore them forever. Additional Indorani ensorcelling the pit have no real effect, they do not speed up the tick time - and this line from the AB "Those with levitation will avoid the draw of the Pit, however it will draw them in closer the longer they stay." is full of shit because no, nothing changes the longer the pit is open. So if you somehow manage to get pitted (too poor for levitation?):
- Loki centipedes are kind of tricky
- There's like 15 rooms tops
- No WP/END drain
- Literally leave by finding a hidden OUT exit, just kill the pit demons and walk out to get back to the fight
What the actual fuck.