Ice Storm sucks. FW still better by a mile.

[Legendary_Agent]

oh man I think about that every single time a mob stands still. They did this in Guild Wars and it changed the game BIG TIME. I mean BIG time.

Fear...

Except in Guild Wars you have this:
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Smiter's_Boon_(PvP)

And you also have Nerfs like:
"We decided to nerf some good warrior skills because paragons were using them to much as adrenaline gain"

In other words u nerf a class because another class is multiclassing and using the warrior skills "to much?"
Im telling u right now if thats how GW2 gonna be ill make sure never bother buying any of their products again...

There has been some stupid decisions made by the balance team which is most of the time only 1 dude -.-

Also paragon skills are nerfed to an extent that if u do not multiclass you are completely Screwed.

[LunaCee]

On topic... the removal of scaling damage and weighted dice both neutered the spell. It has to have some fairly high grade advantages to offset the cost of slotting it and its downsides (split damage types and non-extendable for starters)

On the topic of Guild Wars. Well that is where I came from... and in my occasional checking in on GW2. I'm not interested. Among other things there is no such thing as multi-classing in GW2.

[Legendary_Agent]

On topic... the removal of scaling damage and weighted dice both neutered the spell. It has to have some fairly high grade advantages to offset the cost of slotting it and its downsides (split damage types and non-extendable for starters)

On the topic of Guild Wars. Well that is where I came from... and in my occasional checking in on GW2. I'm not interested. Among other things there is no such thing as multi-classing in GW2.

No such thing as multiclassing in guild wars? if u say something as silly as that i doubt u played the game more than 1 day.

[gurgar78]

No such thing as multiclassing in guild wars? if u say something as silly as that i doubt u played the game more than 1 day.

He said GW2, not GW.

[Legendary_Agent]

He said GW2, not GW.

oh right, sorry then my bad, i didnt know that there wasnt multiclassing in gw2, maybe just an unconfirmed rumour, we should wait and see.

[muffinlad]

I would have liked to see it function for the same duration as FW with the same amount of damage split between bludgeon and cold.

I'm not quite sure I understand why they felt the need to make it so much different. There needs to be another spell in the game that matches the utility of firewall with a different damage profile.

Yes...this exaxtly.

They have already made it take up a similar (overused) 4th level slot, I think we should be able to see similar performance.


muffinslinger.

[irivan]

Turbine is actually using a house rule by not allowing it to be extendable, if they would just put it back to its original form and allow it to be extended per the rules, there would be no issues. Especially since DDO durations seem to always use the non combat rounds in spells, even in combat.

Ice Storm
Evocation [Cold]
Level: Drd 4, Sor/Wiz 4, Water 5
Components: V, S, M/DF
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Area: Cylinder (20-ft. radius, 40 ft. high)
Duration: 1 full round
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: Yes
Great magical hailstones pound down for 1 full round, dealing 3d6 points of bludgeoning damage and 2d6 points of cold damage to every creature in the area. A -4 penalty applies to each Listen check made within the ice storm’s effect, and all land movement within its area is at half speed. At the end of the duration, the hail disappears, leaving no aftereffects (other than the damage dealt).

not extended 1 minute, extended 2 minutes....hmmmm sounds like fire wall with a movement penalty.

I have an idea if you think its to powerful for its level Devs using this methodology just make it a 5th level spell instead!

[irivan]

Also can we please have the permanency spell too While your at it!!!

That would crazy rock...just wish we had all spells, like in DnD you could just get so creative and it would be so much fun!!

[Meowin]

Can you please remove it again and give acid rain a buff instead? Both AoE lingering damage spells are for fire/ice specced casters atm, and the mechanic (static location instead of AoE at time of casting) makes it more useful, also d4 are not loaded (d6 are d3+3, d4 are d4 atm). Can´t see why acid/ele folk shouldn´t get a spell that is at last somewhat comparable...

Meowin

[Gulnar13]

Ice Storm is just preparation for the next update when they fix mobs AI to not constantly run through/ stand in a WoF.

Because obviously the casters need another nerf.
Also, this would buff firewall; since the mobs enter and exit it many times it would suffer many "on enter" damages from it, like if it was kited. (yes, i have played GW and i know how this work; when you put an aoe, mobs get 1-2 ticks, try to exit it, wait a second, and then re-enter it)

[Legendary_Agent]

Because obviously the casters need another nerf.
Also, this would buff firewall; since the mobs enter and exit it many times it would suffer many "on enter" damages from it, like if it was kited. (yes, i have played GW and i know how this work; when you put an aoe, mobs get 1-2 ticks, try to exit it, wait a second, and then re-enter it)

thats wrong, they keep in it as long as their hp is less than 50% only then they start running away and then stop for 2 seconds and then come back to get u, its a pretty efficient way for them to live longer and annoy the hell out of players xD

[Tumarek]

thats wrong, they keep in it as long as their hp is less than 50% only then they start running away and then stop for 2 seconds and then come back to get u, its a pretty efficient way for them to live longer and annoy the hell out of players xD

Hmmm sounds like a good idea. And introduce a mechanism that stops monsters from being blocked off from their target making them unresponsive and the game would be much better actually.... I just hate cheap tactics

[Gulnar13]

thats wrong, they keep in it as long as their hp is less than 50% only then they start running away and then stop for 2 seconds and then come back to get u, its a pretty efficient way for them to live longer and annoy the hell out of players xD

But there is a difference.

GW meteor storm (the aoe that does three "waves" of meteors over 9 seconds) hits every 3 seconds with a wave. Entering mid-wave (in the 3 seconds between a wave and the next one) does NOT damage the monster.
Instead, DDO firewall deal damage based on "ticks" AND when someone enter it. Running out of it at 50%, waiting 2 secs, and then re-entering it, would DAMAGE the monster, since he is re-entering the firewall. So this would be a buff to firewall... and ANOTHER nerf to ice storm - since it works EXACTLY like GW meteor storm.

In short - such a change would suck. It would buff firewall and de-buff other lingering aoe spells.

[gurgar78]

Can you please remove it again and give acid rain a buff instead? Both AoE lingering damage spells are for fire/ice specced casters atm, and the mechanic (static location instead of AoE at time of casting) makes it more useful, also d4 are not loaded (d6 are d3+3, d4 are d4 atm). Can´t see why acid/ele folk shouldn´t get a spell that is at last somewhat comparable...

Meowin

d4 spells for instant damage receive a similar loaded benefit. For instance, magic missile does 1d2+3 (loaded 1d4+1) per missile.

What you're seeing with Acid Rain is that the spell is flagged for "Damage Over Time Dice" meaning that it does not get the same weighted benefit that one-shot spells get. One of the nerfs to Ice Storm from its original appearance on Lammania is that it was switched over to DoT Dice which caused its average damage to drop considerably. Ice Storm no longer has loaded dice, even though they are d6 dice.

[HallowedOne]

How about "Immune to fire" mobs? Is still FW better than IS against them?

[sweez]

From Turbine's own loading screen tips:

Tip #165: Extend Spell only affects spells that have a duration greater than instant and less than permanent. You can cast instant and permanent spells without an increased Spell Point cost.

Sup Turbine.

[Therilith]

I would have liked to see it function for the same duration as FW with the same amount of damage split between bludgeon and cold.

I'm not quite sure I understand why they felt the need to make it so much different.

Because the prevalence of fire resistance/immunity (especially at endgame) is the only thing keeping FW from being insanely overpowered. Cold resistance is far less common (and bludgeoning resistance, well...).

[Legendary_Agent]

Because the prevalence of fire resistance/immunity (especially at endgame) is the only thing keeping FW from being insanely overpowered. Cold resistance is far less common (and bludgeoning resistance, well...).

Im sorry to inform u that is actually the other way around, there are just to many cold resistant mobs ingame to make IS a good spell, You also need to know that melee deals alot more damage than a caster can at end game.

[knockcocker]

Im sorry to inform u that is actually the other way around, there are just to many cold resistant mobs ingame to make IS a good spell, You also need to know that melee deals alot more damage than a caster can at end game.

Agreed. This 'insanely overpowered' thing is nonsense. It was overpowered when they stacked; no longer the
case. I'd argue that it's overused rather then overpowered - and that's because there is no viable alternative
for damage/SP. Really, no other DOT spell comes close. Melee can kick out far more DPS against a single target
and can do so as long as they have HP.

[Jacoby]

That pretty much sums up my thoughts on the spell. When it first hit lamannia with the upgraded version, it rocked because of the scaling damage (was almost too strong, but still was relieved to have something else to cast than wall of fire for a change). When it was that strong, extend not working with it was ok. The scaling damage was taken away, and now it completely sucks. Extend not working with the spell is no longer ok.

Against fire resistant mobs, wall of fire still out damages ice storm by a mile, and it lasts twice as long too. What is the point of this spell then other than a buff for mob casters? Please either add scaling damage, throw extend on it (what is the point of extend if spells don't work with it?), or give us a spell actually worth casting. As of now this spell is still as useless as it was before.

After playing with the spell for a couple days now I agree. It's useless and more of an incovenience as a large portion of the mobs out there are sporting ice resistances. The bludgeoning damage alone does make up the difference. Too weak in my opinion.