U30 Arcanotechnician

[cru121]

The Artificer Arcanotechnician enhancement tree has been adjusted:

• The first core now grants +10 Electric Spell Power in addition to its previous effect.
• The fourth Core (Lightning Bolt) is now an SLA.
• Lightning Bolt now passively grants +1 Evocation DC
• The fifth Core (Critical Admixture) now passively grants +1 Evocation DC
• The sixth Core (Arcane Empowerment) now grants +4 INT (previously +2).
• Evocation Focus now has 3 ranks (previously 1).
• There is a new Tier 5 Enhancement: Arcane Mechanism: While wielding a Rune Arm, gain +10/15/20 Electric Spell Power and +5/10/15 Universal Spell Power.
• Prerequisites for all of the pet have been removed.
• "Imbued Defender" is now "Imbue Defender"
• Imbued Defender now grants you a passive +5 Electric and +2 Universal Spell Power per rank.
• Arcane Engine now grants you a passive +5 Electric and +2 Universal Spell Power per rank.

Summary:
+5 DC increases to evocation
+2 extra Int in Capstone
+10 +15 +15 +20 = 60 electric spell power
+17 universal spell power (new tree has +27, old had +10)

Let me preface this that I have not visited Lamannia yet, going off release notes and ddowiki description of live Arcanotechnician enhs. But here's some feedback anyway.

1) We get a bunch of spell power, but why not add a bit of extra spell crit chance or spell crit damage (instead?).

2) Spell Critical line gives only +1% to a restricted number of damage types. Either make it simply universal +1%, or consider bumping it to 1/1/2/2 or more. Compare to other newer trees.

3) Imbue Defender (T2) seems stronger than Arcane Engine (T4)
Imbue Defender gives bonuses to dog and spell power
Arcane Engine gives only spell power, but has same cost and is higher tier? Perhaps move one of the Evo focus here. Or make dog radiate aura that gives all nearby casters some bonuses.

4) Consider removing the prerequisites also from the SLA line. Or just remove Static Shock. Or replace with something else. Repair Light Wounds SLA, False Life SLA, ...

5) Add Lightning Bolt to the epic feat Master of Artifice; or replace Static Shock with it. Or merge the feat with Master of Air.

6) Shocking Vulnerability: Each Electric spell you cast has a 5% chance of applying 1/1d2/1d3 stack[s] of Vulnerable
This enhancement has very low chance of making mobs vulnerable. Consider bumping the chance to... 100%?

7) Automated Repairs: According to the wiki there is some discrepancy between how often the repairing applies and the description.
http://ddowiki.com/page/Arcanotechni...omated_Repairs

8) Palliative Admixture, Critical Admixture - Allow to target self. IIRC the admixture spells have better targeting options than the SLA. Please fix.

9) Critical Admixture heals less damage than advertised in the description. Also description mentions it being affected by Artificer Knowledge Potions but it does not.
https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/425386

10) Consider reducing the AP cost of some Tier 5 abilities (if you haven't already).

[CThruTheEgo]

Devs, can we please get some confirmation that there will be a proper artificer pass? Some minor adjustments to a single tree is not a full pass, and these changes don't come close to bringing artificers up to a level of power comparable to the revamped classes. Please tell us there's more to come.

[Aletys]

Devs, can we please get some confirmation that there will be a proper artificer pass? Some minor adjustments to a single tree is not a full pass, and these changes don't come close to bringing artificers up to a level of power comparable to the revamped classes. Please tell us there's more to come.

/signed.

Nothing at all for the Battle Engineer tree? Both of the Arty trees need improvements, and it's one of the few classes with only 2 trees to choose from.

My 1st life Battle Engineer arty (before I TR'd her) was always welcome in parties, but not because she was doing much damage (and as we all know, dps is king these days). She was an effective trapper (even in the new content on LE - a bit tough for a 1st lifer), had 2 levels of Augment Summoning (good for L Hound, but that's just one raid), and her doggy could pull the strength lever in LE Tempest spine (after some additional re-spec'ing). So good for a couple of very specific situations in a total of 2 raids.

Mostly she was welcome for her weapons buffs, especially in the 2 new raids which require several different types of DR during the course of each of those 2 raids. Not many people want to be just buff bots.

[Cocomajobo]

The Arcanotechnician tree changes are not meant to represent a full Artificer pass. They are simply changes Steelstar put together (in his spare time, actually) because he wanted to even though a full pass of the class didn't yet fit into our schedule.

This fits in with our previously stated shift to being willing to make small tweaks to classes before we have time to provide them a full dedicated pass as described by Severlin here.

[UurlockYgmeov]

The Arcanotechnician tree changes are not meant to represent a full Artificer pass. They are simply changes Steelstar put together (in his spare time, actually) because he wanted to even though a full pass of the class didn't yet fit into our schedule.

This fits in with our previously stated shift to being willing to make small tweaks to classes before we have time to provide them a full dedicated pass as described by Severlin here.

Thank you SteelStar!

[CThruTheEgo]

The Arcanotechnician tree changes are not meant to represent a full Artificer pass. They are simply changes Steelstar put together (in his spare time, actually) because he wanted to even though a full pass of the class didn't yet fit into our schedule.

This fits in with our previously stated shift to being willing to make small tweaks to classes before we have time to provide them a full dedicated pass as described by Severlin here.

That's good to know. Thanks for the confirmation Cocomajobo. And thanks to Steelstar for whipping up some improvements in his spare time.

[Deathdefy]

The Arcanotechnician tree changes are not meant to represent a full Artificer pass. They are simply changes Steelstar put together (in his spare time, actually) because he wanted to even though a full pass of the class didn't yet fit into our schedule.

This fits in with our previously stated shift to being willing to make small tweaks to classes before we have time to provide them a full dedicated pass as described by Severlin here.

Cool. I'm downloading Lamannia now and will try a T5+Capstone Arcanotech build.

It's a genuine improvement to Arcanotech, though as I have bleated about at length, that 'rune arms don't slow you down' thing from T5 BE is not really negotiable on a build that wants to use Rune Arms for damage in any sort of dynamic environment (which I'm happy to say is most things these days).

Absolute worst case scenario, the +10 Electric SP from the first core is nice, and the +1 Evo DC from the Lightning Bolt SLA (even if it's never cast outside of heroics) makes for more interesting build decisions.

[HastyPudding]

Cool. I'm downloading Lamannia now and will try a T5+Capstone Arcanotech build.

It's a genuine improvement to Arcanotech, though as I have bleated about at length, that 'rune arms don't slow you down' thing from T5 BE is not really negotiable on a build that wants to use Rune Arms for damage in any sort of dynamic environment (which I'm happy to say is most things these days).

Absolute worst case scenario, the +10 Electric SP from the first core is nice, and the +1 Evo DC from the Lightning Bolt SLA (even if it's never cast outside of heroics) makes for more interesting build decisions.

I always felt that the slow-down effect should be tied to artificer levels, not enhancements, or better yet, remove the outdated slow effect completely. I mean, it's a key mechanic of artificers, and having it slow them down without having tier 5 in BE (which sucks when you're not a melee/ranged build) is sort of one-sided. Only BE's get to fully utilize rune arms? Doesn't make much sense, to me.

[CThruTheEgo]

I always felt that the slow-down effect should be tied to artificer levels, not enhancements, or better yet, remove the outdated slow effect completely. I mean, it's a key mechanic of artificers, and having it slow them down without having tier 5 in BE (which sucks when you're not a melee/ranged build) is sort of one-sided. Only BE's get to fully utilize rune arms? Doesn't make much sense, to me.

Agreed. The slowed movement from a rune arm needs to go, period.

[Grace_ana]

The Arcanotechnician tree changes are not meant to represent a full Artificer pass. They are simply changes Steelstar put together (in his spare time, actually) because he wanted to even though a full pass of the class didn't yet fit into our schedule.

This fits in with our previously stated shift to being willing to make small tweaks to classes before we have time to provide them a full dedicated pass as described by Severlin here.

Steelstar has spare time?

[Khatzhas]

I always felt that the slow-down effect should be tied to artificer levels, not enhancements, or better yet, remove the outdated slow effect completely. I mean, it's a key mechanic of artificers, and having it slow them down without having tier 5 in BE (which sucks when you're not a melee/ranged build) is sort of one-sided. Only BE's get to fully utilize rune arms? Doesn't make much sense, to me.

I feel the same way. To be frank, I don't think that the tree focused around physical combat should be the one to get the bonuses to the spellpower-based magical damage device as well.

In fact, lightning spellpower aside, the physical combat tree currently gives almost as much spellpower through a charged runearm as the tree that is focused on spellcasting.

[Xiongrey]

I feel the same way. To be frank, I don't think that the tree focused around physical combat should be the one to get the bonuses to the spellpower-based magical damage device as well.

In fact, lightning spellpower aside, the physical combat tree currently gives almost as much spellpower through a charged runearm as the tree that is focused on spellcasting.

But most casting is done while jumping and moving, since the bonus to spell power is tied to charge tier, realistically, a Battle Engineer is probably looking at +24 USP at the time of casting, not +40.

[kmoustakas]

I like these baby steps. Not everything has to be an absolute overhaul.

[CThruTheEgo]

I like these baby steps. Not everything has to be an absolute overhaul.

I think I prefer the overhaul method actually. Baby steps make it more difficult to see the big picture of how everything will fit together once it's all done, since we don't know what else will be done.

[Grace_ana]

I think I prefer the overhaul method actually. Baby steps make it more difficult to see the big picture of how everything will fit together once it's all done, since we don't know what else will be done.

I agree with this, but apparently we were overruled aways back. I really dislike the seesawing back and forth of tweaking and adjustments. It makes it difficult to choose paths for my toons and judge whether or not something is at the correct power level in relation to other things.

[shadowspeaker]

Steelstar has spare time?

https://youtu.be/YdXQJS3Yv0Y

[Augon]

I think I prefer the overhaul method actually. Baby steps make it more difficult to see the big picture of how everything will fit together once it's all done, since we don't know what else will be done.

I think I would prefer small steps (even better if they were across multiple classes) over one major overhaul on a single class method. Since, in all reality, even with a major overhaul we still don't know what else will be done. But I also think it works to have a both methods happening. small incremental steps in their "spare time" and large major passes when they have time is a viable method as well.

in any case, I think I'll copy my much neglected Arti over to Lam and see how it works.

[Deathdefy]

I feel like a jerk doing this since it was a labour of love, but the U30 Arcanotech overhaul on Lamma hasn't really changed much.

Arcanotech has a mildly better DC - going hard and eschewing BE near entirely, I ended up with a sitting DC of 90, but found it as reliable as 86 on everything in LE Creeping Death except the kobold rogues, who are still iffy.

Lightning bolt SLA was not worth using (I didn't take Master of Air since epic feats are too tight for that) in epic content.

I was definitely doing far less dps since Rune Arm use was a pain without T5 BE (though still possible since you can Tac Det everything and stand still for what feels like a minute before releasing).

I concede it would be easier for players to make viable Arti CC in EE/LH though, since the DC is probably still almost workable without completionist/stacking Sorc PLs /wiz PL/T3 LGS etc... all of those are probably still necessary for anything meaningful in LE though.



I don't know. It does make a garbage tree closer to usable - but I maintain it's still impossible to recommend not taking T5 BE for the rune arm speed normalization.



I know there are suggestion threads on the new Arti enhancement tree/ the overhaul of the existing tree, and I have posted in at least one of those already, but here's my TL;DR in light of these most recent changes.

For my money, I think the "SLAs + Evo DC + Electricity SP + Pet junk" tree is a good contrast to the "Rune Arm + Crossbow" tree - I'm not too hung up on their names but I know others worry about thematic consistency between the enhancements in the tree and its name. I think they're fine, name-wise, as is.

I'd make the third tree the "Imbues" tree. Things like 'doubly effective Deadly weapons' in the T5. 1/3 power AA tree-style elemental arrows that you can imbue others with. Also some weirder junk like Disruption weapons, Vorpal weapons in the T5 maybe. I don't know, just ideas. Also some personal buff akin to EK's 4d4 Acid damage imbue / AA's Elemental damage imbue.

Re: Rune Arm + Crossbow tree - just either get rid of charging rune arms slowing down move speed (there's still a massive incentive to take T5 BE for the bonus mobility in the level 3 stable charge thing anyway), or move the enhancement to a low BE core like level 6. Increase the damage boost to crossbows; maybe as a contrast to rogue SA, do something like bonus damage (ideally via crit multiplier to make artis at least see rogue mechanic damage in the ballpark 3 fields over) only when in PBS range.

Arcanotech's problem is the dog's terribleness, and Lightning Motes being the worst SLA to grace T5 (honourable mention to Frost Lance since it doesn't benefit from Master of Water).

I know a dog AI overhaul is... resource intensive, but it's absolutely necessary. I literally don't summon it apart from lever pulling because it's so unresponsive and/or strange. "Aggressive" should make it like any of the zillion mobs we face in ddo that manage to run toward and attack the player. Or like a black pudding summoned from an ooze II weapon. The AI is 100% there for every other mob in the game. Instead it's this unique bizarre run toward the mob, maybe attack, maybe return to me thing. Stand ground + "Aggressive" only works until it kills one mob, then it stands wherever it killed them instead of returning to where it was standing ground. It also is then unresponsive sometimes. I appreciate ladders are unsurmountable - which is fine - just tell the dog that so it can teleport to me once I'm off the ladder.

Also please give the dog dragon breath damage if it insists on doing its silly acid spray / burning hands attack.

Replace Lightning Motes with... anything frankly, but Prismatic Ray and Tac Det are about the only other spells I cast (though I concede Lightning Motes fits the same weird slot of being just a debuff, at least my 2 suggestions have a saving throw meaning the free non-quicken metamagics are marginally less wasted).

Apologies - this got long, apologies, but I'm not on the council, and artis seem to be in the news, so I figured a diatribe here is the best feedback I can give.

[HatsuharuZ]

I think that Arcanotechnician arties would benefit if there were force/fire SLA choices, as well.

[Livmo]

Agreed. The slowed movement from a rune arm needs to go, period.

IMO rune arm stuffs should be auto -granted as you progress in the Core and not cost AP. I advocated for that last year in council.

It would be great if DDO went one step further with the tree and did the same with dog enhancemts, so room can be made to fold in Primatic Ray and Tactical Detonation into the tree as SLAs.

EDIT ~ Tactical Detonation is L6 and main arty spell.