End of the Week with Major Mal Totally Enhanced Edition

[Hambo]

I'll be there to test on Lamannia with bells on.

I only hope that the "Dojo" that was present on the last Lam build is still present... I find I learn more by trying a build out in a couple of actual quests at each level before advancing to the next to be very informative, as opposed to just building a maxxed Alt to check the final outcome. Also, since I play with Artys exclusively right now it's the only way I can get runearms. Will they be added to that gear room any time soon?

Last time on Lam I took an enhancement on an Arty I built that gave me a chance to detect traps/doors automatically... This sped up my questing quite a bit. Is there a similar enhancement planned to speed up disabling commensurate with experience as well? That might be an answer to some of the "To trap or not to trap" threads I've seen lately...

Thanks for the data, can't wait to test.

[Hoiii]

Some examples of bugs fixed:

Spell Critical: All Spell Critical Chance enhancement are giving incorrect numbers

On Lamannia if its not a display bug or the build will be different, Spell Critical Chance enhancement are still giving incorrect numbers for both "Cleric and FVS Prayer of Smiting". They are still giving just 1% per rank for a max of 3% for 6 action points, nut the other are fixed. The others are fixed.

[Silverleafeon]

There has been a ton of work done--something north of 600 issues addressed.

Looking forward to seeing this.

[EllisDee37]

There goes my Artificer having both Arcane Empowerment and Tactical Mobility. =( I was really looking forward to that, but I understand tradeoffs must be made for the sake of balance.

This was never possible. The original design limited us to a single tree's tier 5s by requiring 40 AP spent in tree to unlock tier 5, making it mathematically impossible to take enhancements from more than one of them.

[Steelstar]

There goes my Artificer having both Arcane Empowerment and Tactical Mobility. =( I was really looking forward to that, but I understand tradeoffs must be made for the sake of balance.

This is indeed possible in the version coming to Lamannia!

Tactical Mobility is a Tier 5 ability in the (Art)Battle Engineer tree. Arcane Empowerment is the final Core ability in the (Art)Arcanotechnician tree. Assuming your character has 20 levels of Artificer, you can reach both of those abilities.

Long story short, you can only take Tier 5 abilities from one tree, but you can still take all the Core abilities for any tree you have access to, assuming you meet the class level and point-spend requirements. Compared to the original Lamannia preview, it's now easier to make a character that does this, as reaching Tier 5 in a tree requires fewer points spent in that tree.

[Silverleafeon]

This is indeed possible in the version coming to Lamannia!

Woot!

[Delacroix21]

This is indeed possible in the version coming to Lamannia!

Tactical Mobility is a Tier 5 ability in the (Art)Battle Engineer tree. Arcane Empowerment is the final Core ability in the (Art)Arcanotechnician tree. Assuming your character has 20 levels of Artificer, you can reach both of those abilities.

Long story short, you can only take Tier 5 abilities from one tree, but you can still take all the Core abilities for any tree you have access to, assuming you meet the class level and point-spend requirements. Compared to the original Lamannia preview, it's now easier to make a character that does this, as reaching Tier 5 in a tree requires fewer points spent in that tree.

That's great news! That being said i think tactical mobility is in the wrong tree. I am afraid most "battle" artificers use two handed weapons while "caster" Artie's use repeaters. Plus all the crossbow enhancements don't add damage to repeaters which is what Artie's use.


Nerfing repeaters does NOT make greatcross bows etc. more desirable. If you want to make those more desirable have the enhancements add 1 damage per tier to repeaters and 4 damage per tier to other crossbows, even then i don't think people will use them.

[Game_Whino]

Nerfing repeaters does NOT make greatcross bows etc. more desirable. If you want to make those more desirable have the enhancements add 1 damage per tier to repeaters and 4 damage per tier to other crossbows, even then i don't think people will use them.

Yeah, the problem with great crossbows (and non-repeating crossbows) is the rate of fire as opposed to the damage per hit. You want people to use great crossbows? Give us an enhancement line that will make them shoot more than one bolt at a time or one that will make their dps somewhat competitive with how repeaters are now. I think you'd pretty much have to halve the reload time on a great crossbow while doubling its damage to make it worth using outside of endless fusillade.

[droid327]

Yeah, the problem with great crossbows (and non-repeating crossbows) is the rate of fire as opposed to the damage per hit. You want people to use great crossbows? Give us an enhancement line that will make them shoot more than one bolt at a time or one that will make their dps somewhat competitive with how repeaters are now. I think you'd pretty much have to halve the reload time on a great crossbow while doubling its damage to make it worth using outside of endless fusillade.

Someone recently posted that GXBs have about 1/2 the firing rate, bolt-for-bolt, as RXBs. I think it might be slightly less than that (cursory testing showed about 2.25 RXB bolts for every 1 GXB bolt). So GXBs are going to have to do at least double damage compared to RXBs, shot-for-shot, before anyone will use them.

They do have a better crit profile, so that counts for something...but they don't triple all your affixes and buffs and chance-on-hit rolls like RXBs do, and that counts for something too. The KD on vorpal does not count for much at all...but simply giving them a couple extra bonus damage with enhancments does not come close to bridging the gap.

Maybe turn GXBs into an AOE weapon - ie, give them ranged glancing blows around the target, and a chance for a glancing blow on the main target as well, just like with THF. And 1.5x effect from Insightful Damage. The disparity between RXBs and GXBs is very much parallel to the disparity between TWF and THF, in terms of attacks per second etc.

[Delacroix21]

Someone recently posted that GXBs have about 1/2 the firing rate, bolt-for-bolt, as RXBs. I think it might be slightly less than that (cursory testing showed about 2.25 RXB bolts for every 1 GXB bolt). So GXBs are going to have to do at least double damage compared to RXBs, shot-for-shot, before anyone will use them.

They do have a better crit profile, so that counts for something...but they don't triple all your affixes and buffs and chance-on-hit rolls like RXBs do, and that counts for something too. The KD on vorpal does not count for much at all...but simply giving them a couple extra bonus damage with enhancments does not come close to bridging the gap.

Maybe turn GXBs into an AOE weapon - ie, give them ranged glancing blows around the target, and a chance for a glancing blow on the main target as well, just like with THF. And 1.5x effect from Insightful Damage. The disparity between RXBs and GXBs is very much parallel to the disparity between TWF and THF, in terms of attacks per second etc.

I know it is a stretch from PnP, but greatcross bows could have their crit multiplier increased to x3. And/or make the knockdown on crit rather than on 20, that alone might make them viable not as a dps tool but more for crowd control.


Overall ranged combat in ddo are at the two extremes, very weak (normal), or overpowered (many shot). To be honest repeaters are the most balanced of all the ranged weapons doing consistent decent damage.

[HungarianRhapsody]

Some old religious feats that were exclusive to Favored Soul (such as Child of Vulkoor and Beloved of Lord of Blades) are now available for Clerics and Paladins if they want them for the cost of a feat. They remain freely granted for FvS. The stats have been slightly improved to give more bonuses and give them at earlier levels.

As previously seen on Lamannia, Clerics and Paladins now choose a deity to worship at level 1 as a feat, similar to Favored Souls. Old religious enhancements for Clerics, Paladins and Favored Souls such as Unyielding Sovereignty are now freely granted at level 6 as feats.

I like the changes that you've listed. I think that they show a lot of potential and I'm *very* glad that Clerics got another look since the Alpha enhancements for Clerics were pretty bad. The bit that I left in quotes here is something that I think could use a tweak. I'd like to see both Clerics and FvS (and Paladins) all choose a diety and both Clerics and Paladins are pretty well feat starved. Giving the religion feat to Clerics and Paladins for free would be good flavor and wouldn't be unbalancing as far as I'm concerned since both of those classes could use a little love.


Hopefully, this quote works better than it looks on the WYSIWYG editor's display. The new forums are... actually, I'll just refrain from describing the forums accurately since I don't want an infraction.

[Targal]

This is indeed possible in the version coming to Lamannia!

Tactical Mobility is a Tier 5 ability in the (Art)Battle Engineer tree. Arcane Empowerment is the final Core ability in the (Art)Arcanotechnician tree. Assuming your character has 20 levels of Artificer, you can reach both of those abilities.

Long story short, you can only take Tier 5 abilities from one tree, but you can still take all the Core abilities for any tree you have access to, assuming you meet the class level and point-spend requirements. Compared to the original Lamannia preview, it's now easier to make a character that does this, as reaching Tier 5 in a tree requires fewer points spent in that tree.

Ehh, can you answer this also? I have my complaint on rogue mechanic that insightful benefit for crossbows(Rogue Mechanic I, level 6) has been moved up to level 12(fourth core-ability of Mechanic). My rogue 6 build for insightful would have a critical problem unless changed.


edited: I confused proficiency with insightful at mechanic.

[barecm]

Well, without seeing if abilities have had their positions changed, I do not like not being able to choose tier 5s from different paths. This does not favor multiclasses at all and further pigeon holes people into certain builds. For instance, my archer would have taken heavy draw from Deepwoodk sniper and maybe a couple of the tier 5 from AA. Other builds I had imagined were ninja spy and rogue assassin builds utilizing tier 5s from both. There were so many cool build options my friends and I were discussing. This is just HORRIBLE and yet again, for whatever reason, more limiting. I am so surprised with such a robust system that Turbine has developed that they choose to limit us. The limit should be in the action points, NOT in the being able to use things simply because the devs want to limit us. I don't get the decision making at Turbine these days, but it really just started to become more irritating than it is worth. Lately, every time they have the choice to either do something the cool and free choice way, they change it to dumb it down so that the causal or new player won't be confused. I just don't get into that method and really cant understand how someone can not understand. Let's go back to the complexity that made this game more fun and more interesting and if people cannot understand, they need to start asking experienced players for help. There are PLENTY of folks who help on a daily basis and I am sure many, many online references to help. I don't want cookie cutter builds and forced paths to 1 of 6 paths to choose top tier abilities. This absolute stinks and not sure why more are not raising their voices.

[maddmatt70]

Well, without seeing if abilities have had their positions changed, I do not like not being able to choose tier 5s from different paths. This does not favor multiclasses at all and further pigeon holes people into certain builds. For instance, my archer would have taken heavy draw from Deepwoodk sniper and maybe a couple of the tier 5 from AA. Other builds I had imagined were ninja spy and rogue assassin builds utilizing tier 5s from both. There were so many cool build options my friends and I were discussing. This is just HORRIBLE and yet again, for whatever reason, more limiting. I am so surprised with such a robust system that Turbine has developed that they choose to limit us. The limit should be in the action points, NOT in the being able to use things simply because the devs want to limit us. I don't get the decision making at Turbine these days, but it really just started to become more irritating than it is worth. Lately, every time they have the choice to either do something the cool and free choice way, they change it to dumb it down so that the causal or new player won't be confused. I just don't get into that method and really cant understand how someone can not understand. Let's go back to the complexity that made this game more fun and more interesting and if people cannot understand, they need to start asking experienced players for help. There are PLENTY of folks who help on a daily basis and I am sure many, many online references to help. I don't want cookie cutter builds and forced paths to 1 of 6 paths to choose top tier abilities. This absolute stinks and not sure why more are not raising their voices.

First, of all I think that multiclass had a huge advantage for most builds (non spellcasters) in the previous incarnation so some advantages had to be given to pure builds and this core concept is a great start although it does favor classes which have 3 enhancement trees vs. ones that have two but it is a start nevertheless. I disagree with your analysis and still think multi-class will be very strong and builds can be very complex. You have options for 6 trees now and it cost less to spend on enhancements in those trees. A build with 3 classes in it where all three of those classes have 4 or more levels is very intriguing I would guess in this version.

[dejafu]

This is indeed possible in the version coming to Lamannia!

Tactical Mobility is a Tier 5 ability in the (Art)Battle Engineer tree. Arcane Empowerment is the final Core ability in the (Art)Arcanotechnician tree. Assuming your character has 20 levels of Artificer, you can reach both of those abilities.

Long story short, you can only take Tier 5 abilities from one tree, but you can still take all the Core abilities for any tree you have access to, assuming you meet the class level and point-spend requirements. Compared to the original Lamannia preview, it's now easier to make a character that does this, as reaching Tier 5 in a tree requires fewer points spent in that tree.

There you have it, folks: They managed to give a significant boost to both multiclass builds (six trees to choose from) and singe class builds (multiple Core capstones).

I don't think it's remotely possible for there to be an approach that will completely satisfy both multiclassers and purists, but this strikes me as an excellent compromise overall.

Oh, and I'm THRILLED my arti will be able to keep Arcane Empowerment while gaining Tactical Mobility. I was willing to give up the former for the latter, but it was going to be a not-fun sacrifice to make.

[barecm]

First, of all I think that multiclass had a huge advantage for most builds (non spellcasters) in the previous incarnation so some advantages had to be given to pure builds and this core concept is a great start although it does favor classes which have 3 enhancement trees vs. ones that have two but it is a start nevertheless. I disagree with your analysis and still think multi-class will be very strong and builds can be very complex. You have options for 6 trees now and it cost less to spend on enhancements in those trees. A build with 3 classes in it where all three of those classes have 4 or more levels is very intriguing I would guess in this version.

Six trees to choose from yes, but only the mediocre stuff for 5. It is lame and limiting at best. I am not sure why there always have to be a caveat with something productive that they do. Just say 6 trees and 80 points to pick from. Why does there have to be a constraint attached?

[BananaHat]

That's great news! That being said i think tactical mobility is in the wrong tree. I am afraid most "battle" artificers use two handed weapons while "caster" Artie's use repeaters. Plus all the crossbow enhancements don't add damage to repeaters which is what Artie's use.

Wait... what? I don't think I've ever seen an actual melee artificer, let alone one using a two-handed weapon (d-axe/b-sword would be the way to go). The crossbow enhancements do add to repeaters, just at a lesser rate due to their higher rate of fire.

Run and gun with repeaters, that is the battle artificer way! I'm actually super psyched about the speed penalty reduction with rune arms as I always have to turn off the auto-charge when mobility is needed which is basically any harder content. I do not cast much with mine in that harder content as I cannot get my DC's high enough to be worthwhile, but I certainly like the buffs/damage/defense through being at range/reconstructing myself/UMD for everything else. I will certainly be glad that it sounds like I will have the option to both not lose the current capstone (it makes clickies so much more useful, go go divine power/favor) and the new ability to not be slowed with my rune arm.

[EllisDee37]

Wait... what? I don't think I've ever seen an actual melee artificer, let alone one using a two-handed weapon (d-axe/b-sword would be the way to go).

THF melee artificers are quite popular, particularly for endgame. They are either 16/2/2 artie/monk/ranger or 16/2/2 artie/monk/paladin, and they are called juggernauts.

To further blow your mind, juggernauts use longbows, not crossbows.

[donblas]

Rough days for a Pats fan. Dumb TE, Broken TE and Tebow all in a week. GAH.

Have a great weekend! Maj.

At least you will always have dependable Wes

Oh, wait.....

[Khelelothe]

Six trees to choose from yes, but only the mediocre stuff for 5. It is lame and limiting at best. I am not sure why there always have to be a caveat with something productive that they do. Just say 6 trees and 80 points to pick from. Why does there have to be a constraint attached?

I personally do not mind that there are constraints. I actually do like that you might have to give up something as a cost to get something else... it's all about the decision-making of character building, which I do enjoy.

Not to mention, it is probably a balancing act as well. Sometimes, having constraints do the very opposite of making cookie-cutter builds.