Upcoming Critical and Block changes

[JaredSpellFrost]

Accuracy: from the start of my days playing my fires poor accuracy was a matter of life and death, costing me dearly so many times with a fizzle. I soon learned to improve accuracy any chance I got. Buying from the bazaar, crafting, farming for a crowns wand in mirror lake and making double accuracy fire pets. long before KH or Darkmoor I was fizzle free, barring a negative accuracy on me. It seems fitting that even without sacrificing stats like I did upto that point, at level 100 we don't fizzle under normal conditions. We improve stats and get stronger. Why should their be a future cap?

Fizzling a spell is quite annoying, but for Fire and Storm Wizards their increased power must come at a cost somewhere. I do agree with you that by Level 100 we have become all mighty conquerors of Morganthe and Malistaire who shouldn't be fizzling spells... But as I said before, I believe that our accuracy should scale negatively with the rank of our spells. I.E., it should be harder to control a shadow beast than a measly Dark Sprite.

Check out this post for more of my thoughts on Accuracy!

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Pips: Getting 100% pips around the third arc also seems in line with being level 100+

Power Pip percentage could definitely use some more school identity. As it stands, Power Pip is equal across all schools which leads to more uniform and stagnant stats. We see definitive variance of Power Pip on mainstream school specific gear, so why not on our raw stat?
Everyone should be able to achieve a minimum of 90% power Pips by Level 100, though a few schools may need to socket a few jewels (Perhaps Ice, Death and Life to make up for increased accuracy). Perhaps Balance, Myth, and Fire could have the largest base Power Pip percentages.

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Resist: Again it's action against jades in PVP reaching close to 100% universal or in some cases over that. Given the insane bosses we face in PVE this shouldn't be changed just to suit PVP. Ban Jade like gear in PVP or find a PVP nerf that solves this issue. This has no bearing on players questing or farming.

Resist in PvE I feel is well balanced, though KingsIsle must ensure that Ice is the only school ever capable of achieving full immunity. Ice, Life and Death in that order should have the best resist as well. Resist in PvP needs a total overhaul (Or maybe its the Arena itself that does) but KingsIsle needs to leave it how it is in PvE! The only change I want to see is making Jade gear and the Spooky Carnival Robe no longer PTW.

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Damage: Same again, mess up PVP to make it fair and leave the rest of us alone.

Our damage could definitely use a rework... Ice Wizards are running around with 130%, Storms are hovering in the 160's, and Fire- Fire is the school with the most damage. How messed up is that!? It would be an understatement to claim that there are slight Power Creep problems with our damage, but what is to be done about it? Maintaining the effectiveness of our gear whilst reducing our damage doesn't make much sense here, as we would still be in the exact same place- with imbalanced, poorly distributed stats. Introducing a damage cap for each school could work injunction with patching the damage discrepancies on gear. Storm would be capped at 170%, while Fire would be at 160%, for example.
Whatever the solution is, we must all remain vigilant and hold KingsIsle to creating a new, fair system that emphasizes school indivuality whilst upholding the founding principles of our wizard schools.

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Even with no changes with players having good gear and pets, me and my friend take a lot of punishment. You've wrecked almost all shadow spells to the point where level 48 spells are the go to spell, also most 7 pip or above spells(save a few improvements)are much weaker. Shrike and similar spells are far to risky to be viable most of the time because, yes shrike is too useful in PVP.

KingsIsle was way off base on many of the spell changes. Orthrus dealing a standard 100 DPP as an AoE, swapping the pip cost of Rebirth and Forest Lord, buffing Fire Dragon to oblivion, upping the base backlash on Shrike and Sentinel, nerfing Frost Giant, buffing Barrage, making Sabertooth an honorary Weaver, removing Gnome's uniqueness and more all make me doubt the competency of KingsIsle's Devs and their ability to pull this update off the runway.
If KingsIsle is truly committed to fixing their decade old game, then they need to prove it by going back and reverting these spell edits.

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With all that said, I hope that we can all agree that change is needed, and it coming no matter what we do. But how that change is enacted is something we have a say in. We must all remain united and push back when nessacary- if KingsIsle's track record shows us anything, its that we must be there to remind them how ludicrous their decisions will be.

Although, to be fair, if history has taught us anything its that KingsIsle doesn't care about us in the slightest and will forge ahead with nasty additions anyways...

[IsaacGreenGem]

I have... mixed feelings about these changes.

On one hand, I can appreciate that having block will actually have a purpose in the future. As of now, it's quite possibly one of the most useless stats due to being locked to defensive gear only and isn't mixed in with offensive gear anymore excluding wands (The last time I remember seeing critical and block on a main gear set's robe aside from crafted gear is Hades, which quickly gets overshadowed by the Malistaire robe with more offensive stats in favor of having no block altogether). In addition to this, most gear that gives block in later worlds offer very little damage, accuracy, pip chance, etc. that offensive options otherwise offer.

Due to the upcoming changes in crit, I can't help but feel like all that hard work I put into raising quad crit double damage pets for all my wizards (excluding fire and storm, they have triple triple pets) was all for nothing and now I just feel like I wasted my time... My ice was never really able to reach 100% critical rate (as I lacked a powerful critical wand), but now my other wizards won't be able to enjoy that sweet 100% critical rate anymore. I guess the idea of having 100% crit rate is kind of silly to begin with (the idea of critical hits is that they aren't supposed to be guaranteed all the time), but I definitely have gotten spoiled over the past year or two not having to worry about it at all.

For the sake of the game's progression, I'll definitely welcome this change though. I feel like gear has gone through that same cycle for the past 30 levels or so (increase all stats by a little every 5 or 10 levels, rinse and repeat), and it would definitely be a nice change of pace to see something a little different when Karamelle comes around (I'd like to see a modern day version of a Hades robe to be honest, just something with all around balanced stats).

I'm not exactly thrilled about what's about to change, but I'll just have to stick around to see if it actually improves game balance or not down the road.

[Eric Stormbringer]

KingsIsle was way off base on many of the spell changes. Orthrus dealing a standard 100 DPP as an AoE, swapping the pip cost of Rebirth and Forest Lord, buffing Fire Dragon to oblivion, upping the base backlash on Shrike and Sentinel, nerfing Frost Giant, buffing Barrage, making Sabertooth an honorary Weaver, removing Gnome's uniqueness and more all make me doubt the competency of KingsIsle's Devs and their ability to pull this update off the runway.
If KingsIsle is truly committed to fixing their decade old game, then they need to prove it by going back and reverting these spell edits.

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Although, to be fair, if history has taught us anything its that KingsIsle doesn't care about us in the slightest and will forge ahead with nasty additions anyways...

Those spell changes actually make sense in context. Off site one of our authors (@Charles Darkflower) reverse engineered their formula and those spells are on track(Yep even Frost Giant). As for Gnomes- that was a poll on twitter and the majority chose the version you see today.

[JaredSpellFrost]

Those spell changes actually make sense in context. Off site one of our authors (@Charles Darkflower) reverse engineered their formula and those spells are on track(Yep even Frost Giant). As for Gnomes- that was a poll on twitter and the majority chose the version you see today.

I can understand some of the spell changes, but how can KingsIsle justify giving Myth a maximum DPP AoE? Not only is that out of line for the school (Storm should be the first candidate for such insane DPP), but it also removes the spells original and school unique double hit. All schools should get a solid AoE, but not when it comes at the cost of essentially another spell.
I'm glad to see that KingsIsle took a convivence sample for Gnomes- giving us a voice in change is something we need to see more of. However, I would argue that the choices they presented were poor. A Guiding Light won't do a Life any good who is using this spell, as if you're hitting... You will not be healing. And a Life Dispel is useless for the majority of Players, and so even if it means losing the spells identity people will want more damage for PvE. Honestly, either option is not that great, and while I vastly appreciate the effort on KingsIsle's part to let us choose, they should give us better options in the first place.
If Gnomes must have its dispels removed, then let them be replaced with something else that makes sense for a Life who is hitting. The original concept of the spell may be lost, but at least it would still be a decent spell!

[Eric Stormbringer]

I can understand some of the spell changes, but how can KingsIsle justify giving Myth a maximum DPP AoE? Not only is that out of line for the school (Storm should be the first candidate for such insane DPP), but it also removes the spells original and school unique double hit. All schools should get a solid AoE, but not when it comes at the cost of essentially another spell.
I'm glad to see that KingsIsle took a convivence sample for Gnomes- giving us a voice in change is something we need to see more of. However, I would argue that the choices they presented were poor. A Guiding Light won't do a Life any good who is using this spell, as if you're hitting... You will not be healing. And a Life Dispel is useless for the majority of Players, and so even if it means losing the spells identity people will want more damage for PvE. Honestly, either option is not that great, and while I vastly appreciate the effort on KingsIsle's part to let us choose, they should give us better options in the first place.
If Gnomes must have its dispels removed, then let them be replaced with something else that makes sense for a Life who is hitting. The original concept of the spell may be lost, but at least it would still be a decent spell!

All the 7 pip spells were essentially treated as a single target hit and did not pay the AoE damage penalty(this was deliberately done to put them over curve and ease mid game PvE). That's why Storm Lord/Frost Giant have relatively less damage- they didn't pay for the damage portion of the AoE but they did pay for their AoE stun utility. As for the lost double hit on Orthrus- someone pointed that out on Ratbeard's stream and Ratbeard seemed open to the idea of adding back another double hit to the Myth school. Gnome's choice came after a lengthy twitter debate where several ideas were thrown around- those 2 came out as the most commonly requested.

[goldendragon18]

Those spell changes actually make sense in context. Off site one of our authors (@Charles Darkflower) reverse engineered their formula and those spells are on track(Yep even Frost Giant). As for Gnomes- that was a poll on twitter and the majority chose the version you see today.

I can understand some of the spell changes, but how can KingsIsle justify giving Myth a maximum DPP AoE? Not only is that out of line for the school (Storm should be the first candidate for such insane DPP), but it also removes the spells original and school unique double hit. All schools should get a solid AoE, but not when it comes at the cost of essentially another spell.
I'm glad to see that KingsIsle took a convivence sample for Gnomes- giving us a voice in change is something we need to see more of. However, I would argue that the choices they presented were poor. A Guiding Light won't do a Life any good who is using this spell, as if you're hitting... You will not be healing. And a Life Dispel is useless for the majority of Players, and so even if it means losing the spells identity people will want more damage for PvE. Honestly, either option is not that great, and while I vastly appreciate the effort on KingsIsle's part to let us choose, they should give us better options in the first place.
If Gnomes must have its dispels removed, then let them be replaced with something else that makes sense for a Life who is hitting. The original concept of the spell may be lost, but at least it would still be a decent spell!

@Eric Stormbringer, I voted against removing the Dispels from Gnomes but it was done anyway. I have not loaded Gnomes since. As it is now, unless I use it against any school other than life, it is useless. The problem with the polls being done on Twitter is that not all players go there. It should also be posted here. Since school has started I don't go there every day.


@JaredSpellFrost, I have to agree that something more useful would be better than an Healing charm. As you indicated, if a life wizard is hitting, they aren't doing a lot of healing. 9 pips for Gnomes leaves virtually nothing to heal with. It may have been better to put a -40 weakness instead of the charm. It is currently a dead spell in my spellbook.

[Dylan Windwalker]

Resist in PvE I feel is well balanced, though KingsIsle must ensure that Ice is the only school ever capable of achieving full immunity. Ice, Life and Death in that order should have the best resist as well. Resist in PvP needs a total overhaul (Or maybe its the Arena itself that does) but KingsIsle needs to leave it how it is in PvE! The only change I want to see is making Jade gear and the Spooky Carnival Robe no longer PTW.

I've always assumed in 5th age that ALL gear including the current ranked gear and the current tourney "arena ticket" pvp gear would completely be off limits from pvp, like there would be a restriction from joining a fight. That 5th age will have a completely new set of PvP gear that is the only possible gear that could be used in this new arena and ranked fights will be completely classic to make it as fair as possible (or perhaps limit players into only being able to use PvP pets, the only possible pets to step foot in battle). Also assumed that Arena Tickets would be completely retire as a concept and be replaced with another currency. Even the spell Conviction might be retiring as a learned spell as well (and being blocked from pvp)...

Basically what I'm saying is that in 5th age, EVERYBODY will get a fresh start with absolutely no gear and no advantages whatsoever (like being able to purchase all the new pvp gear easily with arena tickets without ever joining the 5th age arena, which is why I said that Arena Tickets will retire). There won't be any tc advantages, crowns gear advantages, or pet advantages. 5th age pvp will have its only set of School-only PvP gear that will exactly represent that wizard's school. Sure there will inevitably be a skill difference immediately but at least the average player will have a chance

This will be inclusive of the previous changes to pvp from 4th age and more changes to the arena I would like to see like shield-limiting (to stop shield spam)

[Eric Stormbringer]

I can understand some of the spell changes, but how can KingsIsle justify giving Myth a maximum DPP AoE? Not only is that out of line for the school (Storm should be the first candidate for such insane DPP), but it also removes the spells original and school unique double hit. All schools should get a solid AoE, but not when it comes at the cost of essentially another spell.
I'm glad to see that KingsIsle took a convivence sample for Gnomes- giving us a voice in change is something we need to see more of. However, I would argue that the choices they presented were poor. A Guiding Light won't do a Life any good who is using this spell, as if you're hitting... You will not be healing. And a Life Dispel is useless for the majority of Players, and so even if it means losing the spells identity people will want more damage for PvE. Honestly, either option is not that great, and while I vastly appreciate the effort on KingsIsle's part to let us choose, they should give us better options in the first place.
If Gnomes must have its dispels removed, then let them be replaced with something else that makes sense for a Life who is hitting. The original concept of the spell may be lost, but at least it would still be a decent spell!

It seems my earlier reply went into auto-moderation so I'll repost here.

All of the 7 pip AoE's were deliberately over-tuned to help PvE in the mid-game as per the devs. What they did to accomplish this was take away the normal damage penalty they would give an AoE spell. That's why Orthrus deals as much as it does. Storm Lord and Frost Giant deal less because while they too did not receive the attack drop penalty normally associated with AoEs- the added utility of an AoE stun reduced their damage.

For double hits- Ratbeard was made aware while he was streaming a few days ago and he seems open to the idea of adding back another double hit for myth.

The 2 choices KI presented for gnomes came after extensive debate in the twittersphere- If I remember correctly, those 2 options were the most oft requested so that's why KI gave those choices.