Opinion Poll ~ are the new Past Life feats good enough?

[SirShen]

For me no and when it goes up to level 30 NO WAY. Its way too much xp to get for a very small reward. Ill do it the once because im close to level 28 but im not sure about after that.

[Propane]

I would like to see the past lives stacking - but weighted towards the 1st life.

Say...

50% total boost for 1st PL
25% total boost for 2nd PL
25% total boost for 3rd PL

This would make the PL more attractive to people who run lots of alts, while not changing the grind for the power gamers...

[Teh_Troll]

The thing is you are playing the lvl 20 - 28 quests anyways. So if you are doing a TR or not the same quests are being played. Why not get some benefit from playing the quests.

The problem is you need to abandon all your toons but one and just grind on that one over and over and over again. The benefits are so watered down you need 10-30 lives to see a difference.

And since XP is the biggest commodity you're best bet is to run boring EH as fast as possible.

This is not good for the game.

[lyrecono]

Okay, I need to ask. Why is everyone asking "OMG WHY IS PRR IS THE DIVINE SPHERE?!!"

You know, the sphere that has the defensive destiny? Unyielding sovreign? I think it's pretty obvious why PRR is in the sphere with the defensive destiny.

ok, here's a simple answer for ya, no offensive melee gives 2 .... about the defensive ED or the other one for leveling but due to the overly stupid damage in EE's we sorta need them, meaning we need to run in divine sphere ED's (witch suck, esp when running e streak).


BTW has anyone noticed?
Just before introducing epic Destinies, Turbine raised the damage, saves and hp of all the old raid bosses.
These raid bosses are a pain to deal with at level for a lot of first lifers.

Now look at the state of EE's, and now we get this new ETR system?
Feels, idk... strange to say the least.
Did they mess up EE's so that we would jump for this ETR stuff?
I really don't like this.... i'll stick to heroic content if this goes life as it is

[Teh_Troll]

BTW has anyone noticed?
Just before introducing epic Destinies, Turbine raised the damage, saves and hp of all the old raid bosses.
These raid bosses are a pain to deal with at level for a lot of first lifers.

Wrong.

That was U11

It was nerfed in U12.

[Teh_Troll]

Now look at the state of EE's, and now we get this new ETR system?
Feels, idk... strange to say the least.
Did they mess up EE's so that we would jump for this ETR stuff?
I really don't like this.... i'll stick to heroic content if this goes life as it is

The biggest issue with the current EEs is there is NEXT TO NO GEAR WORTH HUNTING.

As long as this is the case RUNNING EEs IS A BAD IDEA.

Since XP IS BY FAR THE MOST VALUABLE COMMODITY.

This will lead to a very boring game for many people.

[Chai]

The hamster wheel just went from the size of a faireground ferriswheel to the size of the rings around saturn, in orders of magnitude.

[Chai]

The biggest issue with the current EEs is there is NEXT TO NO GEAR WORTH HUNTING.

As long as this is the case RUNNING EEs IS A BAD IDEA.

Since XP IS BY FAR THE MOST VALUABLE COMMODITY.

This will lead to a very boring game for many people.

Theres a reason why XP is by far the most valuable commodity.

Its going to be directly available for sale in the store.

[Teh_Troll]

Theres a reason why XP is by far the most valuable commodity.

Its going to be directly available for sale in the store.

yeah, but $40 x 20 lives . . . hell no. I'm sorry, I don't care how much disposable income you have Ottos Epic boxing your way through this is insanity. This game ain't worth it.

[Hathorian]

Most of the spheres seem ok with the exception of the arcane PLs where they are garbage. The arcane PLs only help FOTM 1/2 button mashing Shiradi builds and I don't know why this type of build is being further encouraged. Boggles the mind. Arcanes should be about more than spamming magic missiles. So sad. Please give some love for DC casters. Maybe give +1 DC per Arcane PL (but you can't pick the same spell school more than once). This will encourage Arcanes to ETR without being OP.

[Desonde]

I like Wizza's format and will add my opinions on the PL feats in the same way.

- Bladeforged: Yes to toggle (though I agree with Wizza could make a solid passive as well), no to passive (It's not enough to substitute any other source nor is it enough to be required to make a toon stronger).
- MorningLord: Yes.
- Shadar-kai: Passive might be a bit on the weak side, but definitely something to consider (Maybe +1% dodge, +1% dodge cap). Active is very weak with a lot of other options that are far superior to this.
- PDK: Active no, as far as action boosts go, it's weaker than most and if it shares other action boost clicky pools; absolutely never. Passive yes.

Martial Sphere:

- Doublestrike: Yes.
- Skill Mastery: No, I'd consider it if it were +3 skills (-UMD), +1 UMD per stack.
- Fortification: At 3 tiers, 30% does overcome the 15% problem of the Bladeforged (+30% means you can reach 105% with moderate fort, but with new 110%+ items and other sources of stacking fort, the question of it being needed is unknown (with a 110% item this could free up the space of exception fort items).
- Passive: Even at +45 AC @ lvl 30, is that 45AC going to amount to more than a 5% change to avoid being hit (will it even reach 5% for the average toon? [Or is it only 27 AC [5x3x3 or [2x3x3]+9] @30). Only consider this if the average character will see a 10%+ boost to damage avoidance.


Divine:

- Healing Power: Yes.
- Brace: Needs to be at least 2 per stack if not 3.
- Block Energy: No, blocking needs an overhaul before anything is added to it [doesn't matter how much fluff you put on a barely functional system, still doesn't overcome the fact that it's barely functional].
- Passive: Yes.


Primal:

- Doubleshot: Yes.
- Fast Healing: Yes.
- Colors of the Queen: Not sure what random effects are, but compared to the other two, only for the hp boost.
- Passive: Yes, +63-135hp is very nice.


Arcane:

- Energy Criticals: For casters, yes.
- Enchant Weapon: Yes.
- Arcane Alacrity: I don't know if this goes far enough (though I haven't used the long cool down spells that wizards have).
- Passive: Feels too weak to me.

[Hathorian]

I have to agree with others the amount of epic xp required to cap is ridiculously high now. Way too much of a grind, especially for people who have more than 1 character (I have like 5 that I play).

[kwyjibo_lol]

Yeah, I saw a few people saying that, but they do NOT speak for all of us.

Yeah well those people, and if they find the dc grind too much there is Shiradi and works great against anything that doesn't have a mantle, which almost 100% of all mobs and raid bosses.

That's the issue, right there. Turbine needs to stop being jerks about such things and screwing over the first-lifers. First life characters should be able to reach competence. Past lives should not be the difference between can't-do-it and can, but between mediocre versus excellent. Boosts are FINE as long when Turbine DOESN'T overcompensate to the expense of first-lifers.

Nonsense, there are plenty of first life EE raid toons that dominate raids. Both melee and casters. These EPLF's are a joke and the vets who try, test and even document for public (ddowiki) are being given the middle finger by Turbine. First lifers are fine, and they can still play epic raids whilst doing EPL's.

[maddmatt70]

Is there any chance these past lives could benefit an entire account? DDO caters a little too much to one character players. I really enjoy playing multiple characters and I feel a little behind the 8-ball in doing so. It would be nice if these past lives could benefit a whole account and not just one character. Yes I know that is contrary to the whole system.

I think the other aspect of the feedback is that the active toggle type abilities must be underwhelming because everyone talks about this being only worthwhile if you grind really heavy on one character which seems true.

[lyrecono]

The biggest issue with the current EEs is there is NEXT TO NO GEAR WORTH HUNTING.

As long as this is the case RUNNING EEs IS A BAD IDEA.

Since XP IS BY FAR THE MOST VALUABLE COMMODITY.

This will lead to a very boring game for many people.

Wrong.

That was U11

It was nerfed in U12.

it was somewhat toned down in U12, not by much though.
The gear is in a sorry state indeed, and needs a serious fixing
Still, this new system requires too much exp, costing too much time for the benefit it gives.
i guess we're supposed to designate our alts to bank toons.

At least EGH gave us some nice toys, traded a lot of EE gear for Otto's boxes till U19
never felt the need to blow money on Otto boxes, Grinding gear to trade for them felt much better
At least i didn't have to feel bad about trading my last Dream visor off XD
No way i'm blowing money on epic Otto boxes either, by no means worth it.

[Ovrad]

Is there any chance these past lives could benefit an entire account? DDO caters a little too much to one character players. I really enjoy playing multiple characters and I feel a little behind the 8-ball in doing so. It would be nice if these past lives could benefit a whole account and not just one character. Yes I know that is contrary to the whole system.

I think the other aspect of the feedback is that the active toggle type abilities must be underwhelming because everyone talks about this being only worthwhile if you grind really heavy on one character which seems true.

While this does seems like an 'easy button', I'll admit that I agree. My alts have already been heavily neglected due to the recent changes and ETR basically puts the nail in their coffin for me. If the rewards were account-wide (at least partially), it would give back my alts a little boost and most importantly, a sense of purpose.

A single ETR will require at least 50h to realize, I don't have anywhere near enough playtime to get multiple past lives on more than one character, and I consider myself an hardcore player.

[maddmatt70]

While this does seems like an 'easy button', I'll admit that I agree. My alts have already been heavily neglected due to the recent changes and ETR basically puts the nail in their coffin for me. If the rewards were account-wide (at least partially), it would give back my alts a little boost and most importantly, a sense of purpose.

A single ETR will require at least 50h to realize, I don't have anywhere near enough playtime to get multiple past lives on more than one character, and I consider myself an hardcore player.

I think one thing they could do is make the first life worth more then the later lives. Doublestrike for example give the first life 5% and the last two lives 2% each. Something like that for all the abilities. I think make the first lives worth more then the later lives would be a big improvement. Another option would be the account wide sort of boost which helps all the character on the account maybe less then the specific character doing the true reincarnation.

[sirgog]

They are powerful enough that they will finally succeed in killing off alts completely, something MotU tried to do but failed.

Obviously I don't want them getting any stronger - monster stats will just be increased to match the max possible character power (as has happened ever since TRing was introduced), so character power will remain constant if you have everything, and the more powerful the EPLs are, the less playable alts missing those EPLs will be.

[SirValentine]

Nonsense

So you have the inside scoop that Turbine designs monster stats so that first-life toons will have sufficient DCs, Spell Pen, etc., to be effective, and the line about monster stats being inflated so as to require past lives to be an effective DC cast in EE is wrong?

Or you're just randomly saying "Nonsense" when you're not really replying to the point of my post at all?

[Clatterfist]

Bladeforged: Excellent. I always feel better having extra fortification and the stance is niche, but useful within that niche, which is totally fine for a stance.

Morninglord: Good. The passive positive spellpower is really small, but at least it's available alongside a regular heroic past life. I can see myself using the stance on a druid or favoured soul.

Shadar-Kai: Fair. A little strange, but certainly useful. Dodge is great unless you're capped, so this makes medium and heavy armour characters even more of the poor relations than they already are.

Purple Dragon Knight: Excellent. Sprint Boost is always fun and that gives life to the saves boost within. The PRR is always helpful. My only concern - will this boost be going off all the time in groups forever more?

Doublestrike: Good. At 3% per stack, that's a decent stance for any melee character, and the passive AC is good (at least for people who play heroic levels and stuff).

Skill Mastery: Poor. You'd have to be a specialist like a rogue to get the most out of this, and it comes at the cost of the doublestrike, which makes it a little bit punitive. It's a powerful stance effect that's none the less unattractive. The AC is fine, but given that there are people who really don't get along with AC, it does stand out as a weaker contender.

Fortification: Fair. I like fortification as much as the next man, but there are lots of sources of fortification. Is it worth going for this one? Maybe not, particularly when it locks out melee doublestrike. At least it comes bundled with AC, so you can get your tanking on.

Healing Power: Fair. It's great on paper but maybe a little situational because of brace. It opens up the potential humiliation of missing an important save because you were trying to be clever. PRR may not be the most attractive thing to go along with such a single-minded support stance, but it's never bad.

Brace: Excellent. Everyone needs saving throws. Stance goes on, never goes off. Oh, and PRR too? Yes please. When can I start grinding for this? It's first.

Block Energy: Poor. I can get down with active block mechanics, but I'll be doing it with the saving throw boost from Brace. There's always the possibility of Shield Deflecting those energy attacks anyway...or I can take the real thing. If I were going to take this, I'd probably be happy enough that it came with extra PRR.

Doubleshot: Fair. Niche stance, but good in its niche, so I'm cool with that. Probably a little less good than Doublestrike, though, and it also has to compete with Colours of the Queen, which is potentially more fun. The extra hit points are nice to have even if a Barbarian past life is better until epic levels.

Fast Healing: Poor. I like the concept of free healing, but random blobs of it a minute don't inspire me at all. It makes sense to get more health at the same time, but I doubt I'll be doing it.

Colours of the Queen: Excellent. I like a little chaos every now and then. This'd be my default option for Primal, and I will want Primal past lives because of the extra health.

Energy Criticals: Good. More boom for my buck. I'm also always interested in increasing my resistance to elemental damage, though 1% is hardly going to be noticable even on an early Ice Flenser Polar Ray and the chances that I'll get this before AC, Hit Points or PRR are virtually nil. This passive component is horribly inferior to the heroic Ranger Past Life.

Enchant Weapon: Good. This would certainly be my first choice for an arcane past life, even if arcane past lives are low on my priority list because of the lacklustre energy resistance. It may not be much of a bonus, but it's decent and applicable and performance enhancing in almost every case.

Arcane Alacrity: Poor. The cooldown reduction is minor and doesn't go with anything that could help to make it more significant, any character that could benefit from it could probably benefit as much or more from the other arcane stances, and it's got the joint weakest attached passive benefit.

Overall, I'm a happy customer and will certainly want to explore some epic-level reincarnation.