Acoylyte of the Skin [Lost Trees Project]

[HatsuharuZ]

False Life isn't that great... as you level up, the amount of temp HP it gives makes it a waste of spell points.

[Silverleafeon]

How about an upgrade (T5?) to the Imp/Quasit that allows it to heal you by a small amount of damage that it deals with it's attacks.

Hmm...I think I could work that in somewhere.

Could it be temp hp?

[Silverleafeon]

False Life isn't that great... as you level up, the amount of temp HP it gives makes it a waste of spell points.

That is why I made the SLA only cost 2 sp, or would like it replace with something else.
Should I put the electric / fire +1 crit back?
Or should I make it 1 sp instead of 2?

[Scrabbler]

Should I put the electric / fire +1 crit back?

If there is crit (or a lot of spellpower) for specific elements, then players will be encouraged to take AOTS for the wrong reasons. They'll treat it as an extension of Air / Fire Savant, and not its own tree. The reasons to take AOTS should be to gain some other kind of features than elemental blasting damage.

[Silverleafeon]

If there is crit (or a lot of spellpower) for specific elements, then players will be encouraged to take AOTS for the wrong reasons. They'll treat it as an extension of Air / Fire Savant, and not its own tree. The reasons to take AOTS should be to gain some other kind of features than elemental blasting damage.

Yes, and that is a good reason to consider self healing inside the tree.
Will not replace and will consider options.

[HatsuharuZ]

That is why I made the SLA only cost 2 sp, or would like it replace with something else.
Should I put the electric / fire +1 crit back?
Or should I make it 1 sp instead of 2?

How about this: Make it an 'eternal false life' toggle which automatically casts false life on the user every 30 to 60 seconds or so, at the cost of 2 sp per cast while it is active.

[Silverleafeon]

How about this: Make it an 'eternal false life' toggle which automatically casts false life on the user every 30 to 60 seconds or so, at the cost of 2 sp per cast while it is active.

Interesting.


I guess I need a few blasphemy ideas, will pull out that electric/fire crit, insert some blasphemy multi-selection, and work on this false life / self sufficiency .... etc...

[Scrabbler]

AOTS sla idea:

Hell Ray or Hell Glare. You shoot a beam at one enemy that does Sonic, Lightning, Acid, and either Fire or Cold damage (whichever you have more spellpower). This based on the concept of Hellball, but of course is much less total damage. Note that this style of SLA won't favor any particular Savant variety.

[LuKaSu]

Yes, and that is a good reason to consider self healing inside the tree.
Will not replace and will consider options.

But the whole theme is pretty much diametrically opposed to Positive Spellpower, and you've not an undead Sorcerer.

Maybe, instead of outright healing, the changes to the skin could produce some sort of forcefield that needs to be busted through before you feel the pain.

Maybe something like Ablative Armor that automatically applies every so often, that the amount of protection scales with your sorcerer level or your expenditure of points into the AotS tree. (Again, for balance reasons, making sure that it doesn't god-mode level 3 sorcs, but also makes a measurable difference at high levels.) If it doesn't re-cast too often (not more than once every 2 minutes or so), a self-only version of the ablative armor spell itself would work pretty well.

[DrWily]

Hmm...I think I could work that in somewhere.

Could it be temp hp?

Possibly. Doing my own take on this (just some slight mods to Round 7) and I can make it give temp hp. To be honest, I don't think every class should be able to self heal, or else everyone would just solo EE

Interesting.


I guess I need a few blasphemy ideas, will pull out that electric/fire crit, insert some blasphemy multi-selection, and work on this false life / self sufficiency .... etc...

I'll try to come up with a couple.

[Nightmanis]

But the whole theme is pretty much diametrically opposed to Positive Spellpower, and you've not an undead Sorcerer.

Maybe, instead of outright healing, the changes to the skin could produce some sort of forcefield that needs to be busted through before you feel the pain.

Maybe something like Ablative Armor that automatically applies every so often, that the amount of protection scales with your sorcerer level or your expenditure of points into the AotS tree. (Again, for balance reasons, making sure that it doesn't god-mode level 3 sorcs, but also makes a measurable difference at high levels.) If it doesn't re-cast too often (not more than once every 2 minutes or so), a self-only version of the ablative armor spell itself would work pretty well.

Why not do something akin to Palemaster then, but with Hell?

You've made a pact with Khyber, the dragon of hell. He's instilled the greatest power of the fiery pits, allowing you to become a Tiefling, then a Demon, and finally rising to the highest ranking, a Devil General.

Give it some evil attacks, maybe even give the capstone Blade Barrier (a blackened one, of course)

[Silverleafeon]

AOTS sla idea:

Hell Ray or Hell Glare. You shoot a beam at one enemy that does Sonic, Lightning, Acid, and either Fire or Cold damage (whichever you have more spellpower). This based on the concept of Hellball, but of course is much less total damage. Note that this style of SLA won't favor any particular Savant variety.

This reminds me to the purchasable:

Past Life: Arcane Prodigy Past Life You recall more about your past life as a sorcerer. Your maximum spell points are increased by 10 at first level, and 5 spell points for each additional level and can produce random elemental damage spells ten times per rest. (Activate this sorcerer ability to blast a target with a ray of combined elements, doing 1d12 damage of a random elemental type plus an additional 1d12 per three caster levels on impact. A successful Reflex save reduce the damage by half.)

But the whole theme is pretty much diametrically opposed to Positive Spellpower, and you've not an undead Sorcerer.

Maybe, instead of outright healing, the changes to the skin could produce some sort of forcefield that needs to be busted through before you feel the pain.

Maybe something like Ablative Armor that automatically applies every so often, that the amount of protection scales with your sorcerer level or your expenditure of points into the AotS tree. (Again, for balance reasons, making sure that it doesn't god-mode level 3 sorcs, but also makes a measurable difference at high levels.) If it doesn't re-cast too often (not more than once every 2 minutes or so), a self-only version of the ablative armor spell itself would work pretty well.

Ablative Armor Artificers level 1
Spell Point Cost: 10sp Duration: 5 Minutes Cooldown: 1 Minute
Description:
Wards an ally against physical damage and force damage. Once this infusion has prevented a total of 5 damage per caster level (max 50) it is discharged.

Possibly. Doing my own take on this (just some slight mods to Round 7) and I can make it give temp hp. To be honest, I don't think every class should be able to self heal, or else everyone would just solo EE


I'll try to come up with a couple.

Thanks I appreciate that.
I might move the tier 5 blasphemies downward to make room for a tier 5 Ablative Armor, then remove the tier 1 and 2 blasphemies, moving upward into tier 3 and 4 cluster.

Why not do something akin to Palemaster then, but with Hell?

You've made a pact with Khyber, the dragon of hell. He's instilled the greatest power of the fiery pits, allowing you to become a Tiefling, then a Demon, and finally rising to the highest ranking, a Devil General.

Give it some evil attacks, maybe even give the capstone Blade Barrier (a blackened one, of course)

Interesting.


THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP, YOU FOLKS ARE GREAT!

[Silverleafeon]

Round 8 is up.

Rounds 1 thru 7 have moved to underneath the notes in post 4 due to space limitaions.


Changes:

Cores:

Greatly increased Core 18 now granting:

Core 18
Defense of the Pit Multi-select chose one:

Devil: You gain +66.6% fire absorption

Demon: You gain +66.6% electric absorption

{This is partly due to removing fire/electric absorption from skin adaptation theme.}


Tier One ~ combined Skin adaptation I and II into I ; created a new Skin adaptation II working toward AotS to be more self sufficient by increasing its defensive roles. Removed Path of Blasphemy I involving Fire/Electric spell crit to encourage this to be a universal tree. Also Toughness now requires Skin adaptation I

Skin adaptation I: Your skin texture switches to red, green, or grey (you pick). You gain +4 natural armor.

AP Cost: 1 Ranks: 1 Progression: 1 No requirements


Skin adaptation II: You gain +5 PPR and +5 MMR.

AP Cost: 2 Ranks: 1 Progression: 5 Requirement: Skin adaptation I

Moved Skin Adaptations acid and cold downward a tier to tier 2 and 3 respectively.


Tier 2 ~ to further reflect the summon fiend ability created:

Summon Fiend I: Any Evil outsider that you summon automatically has an additional stacking +50% fortification, +15 PPR, and +15 MMR.

AP Cost: 2 Ranks: 1 Progression: 20 No requirements



Tier 3 Changed Path of Heresy I:

Deceptive Life of the Pit Toggle: Cooldown 7 Seconds. Costs 2 Spell Points per minute. Automatically casts Spell Like Ability: False Life every minute while the toggle is active. (Considered a level 2 spell.)

AP Cost: 2 Ranks: 1 Progression: 10 No Requirements

To be either Devil or Demon and moving towards more self sufficiency.


Tier Four ~ added Shield of Blasphemy to the Planar Madness effect / Moved what is now Path of Heresy III downward a tier from tier 5 to tier 4.

Planar Madness: Multi-select chose one:

Devil: Your Imp now does Acid damage instead of Fire. Your Shield of Blasphemy now affects vulnerability to Acid instead of Fire.

Demon: Your Quasit now does Cold damage instead of Electric. Your Shield of Blasphemy now affects vulnerability to Cold instead of Electric.

AP Cost: 2 Ranks: 1 Progression: 20 No requirements


Path of Heresy II: Multi-select chose one:

Devil: Poison Spell Like Ability: Poison (Activation Cost: 5 Spell Points. Cooldown: 7 seconds. Considered a level 4 spell.)

Demon: Contagion Spell Like Ability: Contagion (Activation Cost: 5 Spell Points. Cooldown: 7 seconds. Considered a level 4 spell.)

AP Cost: 2 Ranks: 1 Progression: 10 Requirement: Path of Heresy I


Path of Heresy III: Multi-select chose one:

Devil: Bestow Curse Spell Like Ability: Bestow Curse (Activation Cost: 5 Spell Points. Cooldown: 7 seconds. Considered a level 4 spell.)

Demon: Blindness Spell Like Ability: Blindness (Activation Cost: 5 Spell Points. Cooldown: 7 seconds. Considered a level 4 spell.)

AP Cost: 2 Ranks: 1 Progression: 10 Requirement: Path of Heresy II


Tier Five ~ added PPR and MMR to the final skin adaptation / created new Path of Heresy involving Ablative Armor toggle.

Skin adaptation V: You gain a +10 racial bonus to your saving throws against magical poisons
You have racial immunity to natural poisons, sleep. You gain +10 PPR and +10 MMR

AP Cost: 2 Ranks: 1 Progression: 30 Requirement: Skin adaptation IV


Path of Heresy IV:

Ablative of the Pit Toggle: Cooldown 7 Seconds. Costs 5 Spell Points per minute. Automatically casts Spell Like Ability: Ablative Armor every minute while the toggle is active. (Considered a level 1 spell.)

AP Cost: 2 Ranks: 1 Progression: 20 Requirement: Path of Heresy III



Also ~ reduced sp cost of Fear SLA from 5 sp to 2 sp to help make tier 5 more tempting to take.

[Drathsiddh]

Very nice, when we start talking about self healing and the like, its a good sign others things are looking good.


Ok, into the notes section on the front page:

Want self healing options including one or more of the following, etc:

• Better potions to drink
  
  
• New spell ~ Greater False Life granting 50~100 temp hp.
  
  
• Option for Imp/Quasit to do healing pulses every X seconds for YdZ positive energy.
  
  
• Palemaster has self healing, would like to see something for Sorcerer as well.

That will do for starters, will ponder more.

Okay for starters:

• Core 1
• Planar Power: For each point spent in this tree you gain +1 Universal Spell Power.
  Choose a path: Devil or Demon; this will be your choice for multi-selections later on.
  Requires: Any non good alignment.
  
  Core Three (Note: Changed from core twelve)
• Devil Path: Summon Imp: Toggle: Spell like ability: A small imp hovers over your shoulder and attacks nearby enemies. This imp is indestructible, deals 1 to 3 fire damage every 2 seconds, and The imp will only attack enemies that have already been damaged, and will not attack fascinated or mesmerized foes, and always attacks the enemy with the fewest hit points in range. All threat generated by the imp is applied to you. Cost: 20 spell points. Cooldown: 6 second.
  
  Demon Path: Summon Quasit: Toggle: Spell like ability: A small Quasit hovers over your shoulder and attacks nearby enemies. This Quasit is indestructible, deals 1 to 3 electric damage every 2 seconds. The Quasit will only attack enemies that have already been damaged, and will not attack fascinated or mesmerized foes, and always attacks the enemy with the fewest hit points in range. All threat generated by the Quasit is applied to you. Cost: 20 spell points. Cooldown: 6 second.
  (The Caster level and Spellpower Scalling was removed.
  
  Core Six
• Aura of Fiendish Fear: Toggle: You project a 15 meter Aura of Fiendish Fear, decreasing the saving throws, attack, and armor class of nearby enemies by 2. Cooldown: 1 second
  Passive: Your Imp/Quasit now adds your caster level to the damage it deals
  
  
  Core Twelve (Note: moved from Core 3)
• Devil Path: Shield of Blasphemy: Toggle: Enemies that strike you have a chance of suffering profane condemnation for 20 seconds, increasing their vulnerability to fire and poison-based damage by 20%, and decreasing their fortification by 10%. This debuff stacks up to 5 times, and is dispelled by Bless effects. Cooldown: 1 second.
  
• Demon Path: Shield of Blasphemy: Toggle: Enemies that strike you have a chance of suffering profane condemnation for 20 seconds, increasing their vulnerability to electric and poison-based damage by 20%, and decreasing their fortification by 10%. This debuff stacks up to 5 times, and is dispelled by Bless effects. Cooldown: 1 second.
  
  Passive: Fiendish DR: You gain DR 5 / Good and your Imp/Quasit adds half your fire/electric spellpower to its damage.
  
  Core 18
  Defense of the Pit Multi-select chose one:
  
• Devil: You gain +66.6% fire absorption
• Demon: You gain +66.6% electric absorption
  
  
  Capstone a
  Glare of the Pit: Spell Like Ability: Dominate Monster (Activation Cost: 2 SP. Cooldown: 10 seconds)
  You gain: +2 Cha +2 Con
  
  Passive: Your Fiendish DR is now DR 20 / Good.
  
  Also Change the following:
  
  Skin adaptation I: Your skin texture switches to red, green, or grey (you pick). You gain +4 natural armor.
  
  To something like this:
  
• Skin adaptation: Multi-Selector, Choose on of:
• Your skin turns red and you and your Imp/Quasit have a -20 to hate generation.
• Your skin turns green and you gain +20 spellpoints and your imp/quasit now adds your Constitution modifier to its damage.
• You skin turns grey and you gain +20 Melee Power Rating (is that what it's called?) while your Imp/Quasit deals 1 to 4 damage rather than 1 to 3.
  
  and add:
  
  Depending on what your skin texture is you gain one of the following:
• Red: You ignore 10/15/25 MRR, PRR and Energy Resistance Rating.
• Green: You gain 20/40/50 Universal Spellpower.
• Grey:Activate:For the next x/y/n seconds, a dark energy aura envelops you in an aura of magic healing you for 1 to 3 hit points per 3 Sorcerer level. Spell point cost: 60/50/45(?) Cooldown: (?)
  Tier Three/Four
  And then later you will give you a reduced benefit of the of a second choice, thus no completely destroying role playing builds because obviously a red skin is way cooler than a grey one.
  
  The idea behind switching cores was because I don't want a repeat of the Sacred Defender where you gain enhancements that wont work until you are level 6.
  That's about it, consider when making your next round.

[Skavenaps]

Four things i will like to comment.

1-66% baseline absorcion is OP cause you can hit 100% easy with just 1 item. Make it NO STACKING WITH ANYTHING or put something negative to compensate that (like 25% extra dmg from holy dmg, similar to vampire form) and make it a toggle.

2-About not wanting to commit with 1 element to not favor 1 kind of savant. With plannar madness it will not happend. You have fire, that can be morphed into acid or Electric that can be morphed into Cold if you take the plannar madness enh.

3-Glare of the pit, maybe my memory fails here, but i seem to remember on PnP it was 2 rays of fire dmg. So, this plus plannar madness..

If devil path without plannar madness -> 2 Rays of Fire
If devil path with plannar madness -> 2 Rays of Acid
If demon path without plannar madness -> 2 Rays of Electric
If demon path with plannar madness -> 2 Rays of Cold

4-I understand lots of sorc wanna an easy and cheap healing way, but i dont know if that tree the place for it. Devils are not famous for they healing power.. yeah some have fast healing but thats all.

[Silverleafeon]

Also Change the following:

Skin adaptation I: Your skin texture switches to red, green, or grey (you pick). You gain +4 natural armor.

To something like this:
[*]Skin adaptation: Multi-Selector, Choose on of:[*]Your skin turns red and you and your Imp/Quasit have a -20 to hate generation.[*] Your skin turns green and you gain +20 spellpoints and your imp/quasit now adds your Constitution modifier to its damage.[*] You skin turns grey and you gain +20 Melee Power Rating (is that what it's called?) while your Imp/Quasit deals 1 to 4 damage rather than 1 to 3.

and add:

Depending on what your skin texture is you gain one of the following:[*]Red: You ignore 10/15/25 MRR, PRR and Energy Resistance Rating.[*]Green: You gain 20/40/50 Universal Spellpower. [*]Grey:Activate:For the next x/y/n seconds, a dark energy aura envelops you in an aura of magic healing you for 1 to 3 hit points per 3 Sorcerer level. Spell point cost: 60/50/45(?) Cooldown: (?)
Tier Three/Four
And then later you will give you a reduced benefit of the of a second choice, thus no completely destroying role playing builds because obviously a red skin is way cooler than a grey one.

That's about it, consider when making your next round.[/LIST]

Thanks, I never thought about tying skin color to benefits but its a good idea.

Monsters don't have PPR/MMR (I know that is not obvious because I had to ask a Dev) they are hand crafted. So I guess that is why vulnerability is often used as a player toon benefit.

Four things i will like to comment.

1-66% baseline absorcion is OP cause you can hit 100% easy with just 1 item. Make it NO STACKING WITH ANYTHING or put something negative to compensate that (like 25% extra dmg from holy dmg, similar to vampire form) and make it a toggle.

Absorption is multiplicatively stacked so you would end up with { [(100 - 66%) * (100 - 33%) ] * ( (initial damage - protection) -resistance )) = total damage taken.

However, you have a point since it would easily approach immunity anyway, and that number is probably too high. Anything above 50% is unheard of so far. Will adjust next round.

2-About not wanting to commit with 1 element to not favor 1 kind of savant. With plannar madness it will not happend. You have fire, that can be morphed into acid or Electric that can be morphed into Cold if you take the plannar madness enh.

Yes, but we back down upon a lot of things so now its variety. We no longer have 2% crit bonuses for a specific element, nor do we have spell power for a energy type. We could make the Imps do random energy type, but that might be going too far.

3-Glare of the pit, maybe my memory fails here, but i seem to remember on PnP it was 2 rays of fire dmg. So, this plus plannar madness..

If devil path without plannar madness -> 2 Rays of Fire
If devil path with plannar madness -> 2 Rays of Acid
If demon path without plannar madness -> 2 Rays of Electric
If demon path with plannar madness -> 2 Rays of Cold

You are quite correct.
The choice for dominate monster instead was two fold:
We step away from even more pushing an individual energy type.
We embrace the old Dev design of Dominate/hypno without overpoweredness.
We also move away from pure evocation which is what the Savant tree is.

A literal translation seemed a bit to evoker style, and this emphasized the fear / deception strength of the D&D pen and paper monsters.

4-I understand lots of sorc wanna an easy and cheap healing way, but i dont know if that tree the place for it. Devils are not famous for they healing power.. yeah some have fast healing but thats all.

I agree, to bring in major healing, we would have to reduce damage to the level of a divine and no one wants that. Its similar to being a barbarian ~ you choose damage over self healing (unless you are robot...lol). So the false life / ablative armor gives some defense without going too far I hope.

[DrWily]

How about an upgrade (T5?) to the Imp/Quasit that allows it to heal you by a small amount of damage that it deals with it's attacks.

Hmm...I think I could work that in somewhere.

Could it be temp hp?

T5 Enhancement:
Feeding: Your Imp/Quasit now gives you 3/6/10 temporary HP every time it deals damage, for 30 seconds. It stacks up to 10 times.

AP Cost: 1 Ranks: 3 Progression: 30 Prerequisite: Summon Imp/Summon Quasit

[Wizza]

As a Sorcerer player from the beginning of DDO, I'd never go above Core 3 and Skin Adaption I in this tree.

First of all, I don't understand the point of this tree. Is it an utility tree? Is it an offensive tree? Is it a defensive tree? Is it something else? Right now it's nothing, really. I'm not trying to be mean but there is really not a single thing that is exciting, too much stuff copied from other trees and too much stuff that is useless in DDO.

The capstone is absolute garbage. There should be a Demonic form here, with all its benefits, skin changes and whatsoever. Dominate Monster is just meh as a capstone, I'd never take it.

Nothing good in Tier 1. Toughness is already in EK, not sure why Spell Crit is 1% instead of the standard 2% but that goes back to my question "what is this tree supposed to do?".

Tier 2 has absolutely nothing. Noone uses bluff, noone would waste 6 points to get 6 DR for a few seconds.

Not sure why Acid Absorption is even here.

+3 Saves against Magic on a Sorcerer is useless.

And Summons: summons will never be good in DDO. Just accept this fact and get rid of it. Yes, they make sense in this tree but no, they don't make sense in DDO at all.


Tier 3: False life, really? 20 temporary HP every minute? Make it every 10 seconds, making it actually a free 20 DR/- and I could think about it.

Order's Wrath and Chaos Hammer are level 4 spells, which is enough to say that no Sorcerer will ever get it with the abudance of lvl 4 spells that there is.

Cold abs: see acid absorption.


Tier 4: Again level 4 spells. Again level 4 USELESS spells. All FOUR of them are useless.

Not sure why Planar Madness is here as well. Either you make the chance to every element to get it at Core 3, or there is no reason for some to be in the core 3 and others to be in Tier 4.


Tier 5: Why +1 DC? What's the point here? This is not an offensive tree looks like, no Spell power, not enough crit chance.

Again, more useless spells. Fear: noone ever used this spell.

Ablative armor is actually a cool idea and a useful spell. The CL should scale with the Character level, making it prevent 5 damage per caster level (max 150 at CL 30).

Summons: see previous comment.




So, in the end, I can see what the problem with this tree is: too much flavor. Flavor is not good in DDO, specially when it comes to important stuff like Enhancements, that have to scale well enough into Epics. See EK, Shadar-kai who are full of flavor but everyone is screaming to the Devs to fix them.

More useful stuff, less flavor.

Also: STOP copying stuff from other trees. The AoV archon is clearly an example. And do not even try to make you heal, why the hell would it? Actually, instead of doing damage, it could daze mobs every 5 or so seconds. Try to come up with something yours.

[Silverleafeon]

Thanks for the input it is greatly appreciated.
THANKS!

As a Sorcerer player from the beginning of DDO, I'd never go above Core 3 and Skin Adaption I in this tree.

When I started the Warmage project there were fanfare requests from Sorcerer players for a tree that one could spent 1 ap to gain 1 usp.

First of all, I don't understand the point of this tree. Is it an utility tree? Is it an offensive tree? Is it a defensive tree? Is it something else? Right now it's nothing, really. I'm not trying to be mean but there is really not a single thing that is exciting, too much stuff copied from other trees and too much stuff that is useless in DDO.

An excellent question. And now is good time to look at it.

What is it?

Hmm... DR = defense ; +1 universal spell crit = universal tree ; think of it as a defensive archmage type in its own way.

The tree probably needs review to not be underpowered, but I am trying not to make it overpowered.
Savant is a tough act to follow and balance beside.

It could easily be considered a huge splash for a single savant.
Taking core 18 and tier 5 from Savant then taking capstone and tier 4 from this tree might be a good combo.
Will have to look at the points spent to see.
You gain 0.25 USP per AP along with +4% USC right off the bat and that is definitely attractive to some Sorcerers.

The capstone is absolute garbage. There should be a Demonic form here, with all its benefits, skin changes and whatsoever. Dominate Monster is just meh as a capstone, I'd never take it.

Compared to the Savant capstone, especially if you are warforged/bladeforged it is actually pretty good.
{Ever go into elemental form as a warforged sorcerer There are reasons why we hardly ever see pure sorcerers.}

Dominate differs greatly from Mass Charm monster in two fold ~ it turns on monster against the rest, and that monster follows your thru the quest till it dies or saves while doing damage and pulling agro along the way. Its not for every play style, but it definitely ranks up there among the best heroic SLA in game for the right player. Just like Hypno can give you that extra second or two needed, this sla will have its moments.

Nothing good in Tier 1. Toughness is already in EK, not sure why Spell Crit is 1% instead of the standard 2% but that goes back to my question "what is this tree supposed to do?".

If someone has a replacement for toughness I would love to hear it.

There are suggestions to make skin adaptation I offer multiple choices.
Gray = natural armor ?
Red = spell casting ?
Green = ?

1% is what you will get when its universal spell crit.. Having 2% implies specialization which is something this tree is not hopefully.

Tier 2 has absolutely nothing. Noone uses bluff, noone would waste 6 points to get 6 DR for a few seconds.

Not sure why Acid Absorption is even here.

+3 Saves against Magic on a Sorcerer is useless.

And Summons: summons will never be good in DDO. Just accept this fact and get rid of it. Yes, they make sense in this tree but no, they don't make sense in DDO at all.

The DR stacks with fiendish DR so in epic levels that is DR 26. Bluff also adds 25% threat reduction during it's duration.

Acid absorption represents part of the defensives package. Combined with an item and Energy Sheath it comes into its own nicely. For someone who is not player a 2 pally / XX Sorcerer / ? monk toon, saving throw vs magic is going to start looking interesting again when Divine Grace no longer offers uber uber saves anymore. {A patch or two after update 23 and divine grace will be limited to {2 + (pally level * 3)}

Since an Acoylyte of the Skin might be playing in Magistar, having the ability to make your Succubus, extremely hard to kill will be interesting especially since it does not cost resources when it dies. Combined, those are massive summons buffs.

Tier 3: False life, really? 20 temporary HP every minute? Make it every 10 seconds, making it actually a free 20 DR/- and I could think about it.

Order's Wrath and Chaos Hammer are level 4 spells, which is enough to say that no Sorcerer will ever get it with the abudance of lvl 4 spells that there is.

Cold abs: see acid absorption.

For heroics, false life + DR / half Sorcerer level is pretty good. For Epic Normal or Epic Hard combined with DR 20, it actually might help. Yes we could consider more than once per minute.

How many level 4 sorcerer spells will Daze opponents effectively on EE. Order's Wrath fits that bill nicely. Again, yes its a defensive option as much of this tree feature such. Holy Smites blinds and blindess on EE is a game changer. I agree compared to running thru a dungeon trigging off mass hold monster and energy burst this is a very different playstyle, but one cannot think we should buff that playstyle.

See my notes on acid absorption.

Tier 4: Again level 4 spells. Again level 4 USELESS spells. All FOUR of them are useless.

Not sure why Planar Madness is here as well. Either you make the chance to every element to get it at Core 3, or there is no reason for some to be in the core 3 and others to be in Tier 4.

There are cheap SLAs and a cost factor to gain Ablative Armor toggle.
The ability to cast a fully metamagiced curse or blindess is interesting.
Perhaps I should drop the poison/contagion or make it a multi-select with more choices?
Perhaps Poison and Contagion should be cheaper.

Tier 5: Why +1 DC? What's the point here? This is not an offensive tree looks like, no Spell power, not enough crit chance.

Again, more useless spells. Fear: noone ever used this spell.

Ablative armor is actually a cool idea and a useful spell. The CL should scale with the Character level, making it prevent 5 damage per caster level (max 150 at CL 30).

Summons: see previous comment.

This is the only sorcerer heroic enhancement place in the game to gain a non evocation DC bonus. And its actually +3 not +1 look at core three six: Aura of Fiendish Fear: Toggle: You project a 15 meter Aura of Fiendish Fear, decreasing the saving throws, attack, and armor class of nearby enemies by 2. Cooldown: 1 second



If you want a Sorcerer that has better mass hold monster this tier is the place to be.
Fear reduces saving throws and changes agro temp.
It can be like hypno and grant that life saving moment.
This is an SLA that can be fully metamagiced.

Yes, I like Ablative armor and wish there was a Greater False life, perhaps I should write one up.

Summoning a Hezrou or Succubus with +250% fortification, +65 PPR, and +65 MMR is actually going to be a significant distraction on EN or EH. Its not a bad one shot bomb on EE if you don't mind the agro mess it will create.

So, in the end, I can see what the problem with this tree is: too much flavor. Flavor is not good in DDO, specially when it comes to important stuff like Enhancements, that have to scale well enough into Epics. See EK, Shadar-kai who are full of flavor but everyone is screaming to the Devs to fix them.

More useful stuff, less flavor.

Adding power is fairly easy, would to have input on power adjustments from others.
This is not Savant, its something different, not an evocation specialist.

Also: STOP copying stuff from other trees. The AoV archon is clearly an example. And do not even try to make you heal, why the hell would it? Actually, instead of doing damage, it could daze mobs every 5 or so seconds. Try to come up with something yours.

Copy and Paste makes easy coding. I have an eye on that.
But yes, I should be creative when I can.

Something about a devil/demon tree has relationships with an angel tree.
Would be glad to have examples of different things in the tree.
Ideas are good for Devs to see.


All in all, what does a single Savant gain from this tree:

An Archon that can do damage in its energy.
The ability to make a foe up to 50% vulnerable to its energy.
The ability to spend 1 AP to get 1 USP.
+4 Univeral Spell Crit
Up to 20~24 / Good
Some reduction of damage taken
Some cheap debuffing SLA
A decent capstone for warforged
Some hands free auto protection and auto damage effect
+1 to any school of DC with -2 DC bebuff from core 6 and -2 debuff from shaken (fear sla) and -4 from bestow curse = fairly good change of landing that save or die type spell


What does a EK gain from this tree:
More defensive bonuses
See above.


Actually the more I look at the tree, the more power I find.

Places to smooth out ~ skin choices, and wondering if poison / contagion belong here.

[HatsuharuZ]

In the original "Acolyte of the Skin" prestige class, one of the abilities was gaining additional stat points, amongst other fiendish traits. Perhaps there could be a toggle or form change of some kind, similar to PM undead form? It wouldn't be as powerful, but could provide something like -CON, +CHA, or vice versa.

Also, Glare of the Pit was a ranged stunning ability like Kukan-Do (the monk enhancement). Perhaps that could be an option, as well?