Defender stances, a tweak to movement penalty

[ReaperAlexEU]

I understand there needs to be some drawback to using the stances as they are not intended to be a complete no-brainer. However at the moment I've spent the vast bulk of my trip to lvl20 out of the stance (the paladin one, though i assume the same applies to the fighter one). I must have done about 5 quests with the stance mostly active, the only other time i use it is for when something like a raid boss is to be surrounded and beaten down, then its more for the DPS rather than the tanking (we all know it takes a lot of grinding to get raid level AC and my toon is but a fresh lvl20).

So, the main reason I've not used it through most quests is because I am not mobile between battles, and tumbling between battles is a real pain in the finger. I have had a cunning plan (yes, its definitely stoat worthy if a tail were to be added) that keeps the lack of mobility penalty in battle, but removes the mobility penalty between battles. Swap that flat movement penalty out and put the new deep sea underwater speed penalty in (without the gravity effect penalty).

This gives you the in battle movement penalty as it takes a long time to build up speed, making it almost impossible to follow a hoppy caster/archer about. It also removes the penalty between battles as once your rolling your at full speed and can travel between fights with the rest of the party. I recommend removing the gravity effect the underwater combat has, the current stance lets you jump at full height and i see no reason why the change should affect that.

The other thing to decide on is if tumble would be locked out. Naturally i don't want it to be locked out, as you can invest in tumble to alleviate the movement penalty, paying for a workaround so to speak. With tumble allowed you could still pay for in battle mobility, which seems fair enough.

So, what do you think? Would this improve the stances and make them more widely used while still maintaining their handicap? Would it make life worse? Would it make the stances overpowered? Is it, or is it not as cunning as a stoat if a tail were to be pinned on?

[Ybbald]

I like it. It's like you build up speed and become an unstoppable tank,

[ReaperAlexEU]

yeah, i did quite enjoy that feeling of the under water combat and i think it would fit in well with the defender stances.

i think it gives a nice choice. if you know you will be faced with hoppy casters then you leave the stance off, less DPS but more mobility. if you know you will be faced with a lot of melee mobs you put the stance on, more tanking, more DPS to maintain aggro and less mobility. it just feels right and i can see why the dev's put the penalty in to start with.

its just the practicalities of moving between fights that reduce the usage of one of the largest benefits of the prestige enhancements. i think my idea keeps the original goal of mobility vs tank+aggro holding whilst allowing the flow of the game between the fights.